# Justice Act (Northern Ireland) 2015, Section 90: Sexual communication with a child

Extent: N.I.

(1) In the Sexual Offences (Northern Ireland) Order 2008 after Article 22 insert—
“Sexual communication with a child
22A (1) A person aged 18 or over (A) commits an offence if—
(a) for the purpose of obtaining sexual gratification, A intentionally communicates with another person (B),
(b) the communication is sexual or is intended to encourage B to make (whether to A or to another) a communication that is sexual, and
(c) B is under 16 and A does not reasonably believe that B is 16 or over.
(2) For the purposes of this Article, a communication is sexual if—
(a) any part of it relates to sexual activity, or
(b) a reasonable person would, in all the circumstances but regardless of any person's purpose, consider any part of the communication to be sexual;
and in sub-paragraph (a) “sexual activity” means an activity that a reasonable person would, in all the circumstances but regardless of any person's purpose, consider to be sexual.
(3) A person guilty of an offence under this Article is liable—
(a) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum or both;
(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years.”.
(2) In Article 4 of that Order (meaning of “sexual”) after “except” insert “ Article 22A (sexual communication with a child) or ”.
(3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(5) In the Criminal Justice (Northern Ireland) Order 2008 in Part 2 of Schedule 2 (specified sexual offences) in paragraph 14A after the entry relating to Article 22 of the Sexual Offences (Northern Ireland) Order 2008 insert— “ Article 22A (sexual communication with a child), ”.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nia/2015/9/section/90 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/justice-act-northern-ireland-2015/section-90
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.