Child sex offenders convicted under pre-2004 law slip through government's early-release exclusion list

The government pledged to bar child sex offenders from early release. But indecent assault under sections 14 and 15 of the Sexual Offences Act 1956 — the charge used in many pre-2004 abuse cases including Rotherham and Rochdale — was excluded from neither list. The BBC reported that offenders convicted under those sections could qualify for early release, some after serving a third of their sentence.