An individual has been charged who published the name of the sex attack victim on the police’s Facebook page.



A man, 31, commented on the post about the sexual offence court case on police’s Facebook page and named the victim in his comment. He is now being charged under the Sexual Offences Amendment Act for breaching the victim’s right to anonymity. According to Section 5 of this legislation, victims of sexual offences have the right to anonymity for life. The individual will appear at the magistrates’ court on 21 July.

The police explained that it did welcome comments on their Facebook page but this doesn’t mean that people can break the law or leave threatening or abusive comments intended to intimidate. The police claimed they do understand that people have differing views on many issues, but they wouldn’t condone these types of comments. Such posts will be removed and even investigated by police where appropriate.

Three years ago, ten people were also charged and convicted for identifying online the victim of a rape involving former Sheffield United footballer. The latter was convicted in April 2012 and sentenced to 5 years of jail time.