OpenLegislation

Section 246C Indecent images: prisoner's non-disclosure of informationC1F1

(1)

The Board must comply with this section when making a public protection decision about a prisoner F2under section 246A(6)(b), for the purposes of section 246A(5), if—

(a)

the prisoner's sentence was passed for—

(i)

an offence of taking an indecent photograph of a child, or

(ii)

a relevant offence of making an indecent pseudo-photograph of a child;

(b)

the Board does not know the identity of the child who is the subject of the relevant indecent image; and

(c)

the Board believes that the prisoner has information about the identity of the child who is the subject of the relevant indecent image which the prisoner has not disclosed to the Board (“the prisoner's non-disclosure”).

(2)

When making the public protection decision about the prisoner, the Board must take into account—

(a)

the prisoner's non-disclosure; and

(b)

the reasons, in the Board's view, for the prisoner's non-disclosure.

(3)

This section does not limit the matters which the Board must or may take into account when making a public protection decision.

(4)

In subsection (1)(a), the reference to a sentence includes a sentence passed before the coming into force of section 2 of the Prisoners (Disclosure of Information About Victims) Act 2020.

(5)

For the purposes of this section, an offence is—

(a)

an “offence of taking an indecent photograph of a child” if it is an offence under section 1(1)(a) of the Protection of Children Act 1978 of taking an indecent photograph of a child;

(b)

a “relevant offence of making an indecent pseudo-photograph of a child” if—

(i)

it is an offence under section 1(1)(a) of the Protection of Children Act 1978 of making an indecent pseudo-photograph of a child, and

(ii)

the Board believes that an image of a real child was or may have been used in the making of the pseudo-photograph;

and, in the application of this section to a relevant offence of making an indecent pseudo-photograph of a child, the references in subsection (1)(b) and (c) to the child who is the subject of the relevant indecent image are references to the real child.

(6)

In this section—

  • F3“public protection decision”, in relation to a prisoner, has the meaning given by section 237A(2);

  • “relevant indecent image” means—

    1. (a)

      the photograph to which an offence of taking an indecent photograph of a child relates, or

    2. (b)

      the pseudo-photograph to which a relevant offence of making an indecent pseudo-photograph of a child relates.

Annotations

Textual amendments

F1

Ss. 246B, 246C inserted (4.1.2021) by Prisoners (Disclosure of Information About Victims) Act 2020 (c. 19), ss. 2(2), 3(2); S.I. 2020/1537, reg. 2

F2

Words in s. 246C(1) inserted (3.2.2025) by Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 (c. 21), ss. 59(4)(a), 81(2); S.I. 2025/95, reg. 3(b)

F3

Words in s. 246C(6) substituted (3.2.2025) by Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 (c. 21), ss. 59(4)(b), 81(2); S.I. 2025/95, reg. 3(b)

Modifications

C1

Pt. 12 Ch. 6 applied (29.6.2021) by 1984 c. 47, Sch. para. 2(3B) (as inserted by Counter Terrorism and Sentencing Act 2021 (c. 11), s. 50(2)(r), Sch. 11 para. 2)

Notes on Part 12

Modifications

C1

Pt. 12 modified (28.3.2009 for certain purposes, otherwise 31.10.2009) by Armed Forces Act 2006 (c. 52), ss. 183(4), 383 (as amended (1.4.2008) by The Offender Management Act 2007 (Consequential Amendments) Order 2008 (S.I. 2008/912), art. 3, Sch. 1 para. 23(2)(b)); S.I. 2009/812, art. 3 (with transitional provisions in S.I. 2009/1059); S.I. 2009/1167, art. 4

C2

Pt. 12 (ss. 142-305) modified (4.4.2005) by The Criminal Justice Act 2003 (Sentencing) (Transitory Provisions) Order 2005 (S.I. 2005/643), art. 3 (as amended (E.W.) (3.12.2012) by The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (Consequential and Saving Provisions) Regulations 2012 (S.I. 2012/2824), regs. 1, 3(1) (with reg. 3(2)) and as amended (1.12.2020 immediately before the consolidation date (see 2020 c. 9, ss. 3, 5(2)(3) and 2020 c. 17, ss. 2, 416)) by Sentencing (Pre-consolidation Amendments) Act 2020 (c. 9), s. 5(2)(3), Sch. 2 para. 139; S.I. 2012/1236, reg. 2)

Notes on Chapter 6

Textual amendments

F1

Pt. 12 Ch. 6 heading substituted (3.12.2012) by Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (c. 10), s. 151(1), Sch. 14 para. 16; S.I. 2012/2906, art. 2(l)

F2

Word in Pt. 12 Ch. 6 heading inserted (1.2.2015) by Offender Rehabilitation Act 2014 (c. 11), s. 22(1), Sch. 3 para. 15 (with Sch. 7 para. 2); S.I. 2015/40, art. 2(u)

Modifications

C1

Pt. 12 Ch. 6 applied to any person serving a sentence for an offence committed before 4 April 2005 (whenever that sentence was or is imposed) by Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (c. 10), ss. 121(1), 151(1); S.I. 2012/2906, art. 2(d)

C2

Pt. 12 Ch. 6 applied (1.2.2015) by Offender Rehabilitation Act 2014 (c. 11), s. 22(1), Sch. 7 para. 2(a); S.I. 2015/40, art. 2(x)

C3

Pt. 12 Ch. 6 modified (1.12.2020) by Sentencing Act 2020 (c. 17), s. 245(1)(2)(c), 416(1) (with ss. 2, 245(3), 398(1), 406, Sch. 27); S.I. 2020/1236, reg. 2

C4

Pt. 12 Ch. 6 modified (1.12.2020) by Sentencing Act 2020 (c. 17), s. 244(1)(2)(c), 416(1) (with ss. 2, 244(3), 398(1), 406, Sch. 27); S.I. 2020/1236, reg. 2

C6

Pt. 12 Ch. 6 modified (22.3.2026) by 1984 c. 27, Sch. para. 2B(3) (as inserted by Sentencing Act 2026 (c. 2), ss. 41(1), 49(4) (with s. 41(3)(4)))