# Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000, Section 3: Abuse of position of trust.

Extent: E+W+S+N.I.

(1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3) below, it shall be an offence for a person aged 18 or over—
(a) to have sexual intercourse (whether vaginal or anal) with a person under that age; or
(b) to engage in any other sexual activity with or directed towards such a person,
if (in either case) he is in a position of trust in relation to that person.
(2) Where a person (“ A ”) is charged with an offence under this section of having sexual intercourse with, or engaging in any other sexual activity with or directed towards, another person (“ B ”), it shall be a defence for A to prove that, at the time of the intercourse or activity—
(a) he did not know, and could not reasonably have been expected to know, that B was under 18;
(b) he did not know, and could not reasonably have been expected to know, that B was a person in relation to whom he was in a position of trust; or
(c) he was lawfully married to, or in civil partnership with, B.
(3) It shall not be an offence under this section for a person (“ A ”) to have sexual intercourse with, or engage in any other sexual activity with or directed towards, another person (“ B ”) if immediately before the commencement of this Act—
(a) A was in a position of trust in relation to B; and
(b) a sexual relationship existed between them.
(4) A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable—
(a) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or to both;
(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years, or to a fine, or to both.
(5) In this section, “ sexual activity ”—
(a) does not include any activity which a reasonable person would regard as sexual only with knowledge of the intentions, motives or feelings of the parties; but
(b) subject to that, means any activity which such a person would regard as sexual in all the circumstances.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/44/section/3 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/sexual-offences-amendment-act-2000/section-3
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.