What happens next? Understanding sentencing
One of the most common questions people ask us is: now I've been caught, what's going to happen to me? This page explains, in general terms, how UK courts approach sentencing for the offences we most often support people with.
How UK sentencing generally works
For most of these offences, courts work through a similar process: first working out which category the offending falls into, based on how much harm was involved and how culpable (blameworthy) the offender's role was, then starting from a guideline point within that category, before adjusting up or down for aggravating or mitigating factors.
Things that generally increase seriousness include: the scale or duration of the offending, previous convictions, abuse of a position of trust, and targeting a particularly vulnerable person.
Each of the offences below has its own sentencing guideline, with its own categories and starting points, there isn't one guideline covering all of them. It's also worth knowing that a case can start at the Magistrates' Court and, depending on the offence and its seriousness, either be sentenced there or sent up to the Crown Court for sentencing, the venue below is the usual pattern, not a fixed rule for every case.
Mitigating factors courts commonly weigh up
These are factors that have been recognised, in Sentencing Council guidance and in reported Court of Appeal decisions, as ones a court may take into account when deciding a sentence. Whether, and how much, any of these apply is entirely down to the specific facts of a case, this isn't a checklist that adds up to a guaranteed outcome.
Taking active steps to understand and address the behaviour, for example engaging with therapy or a recognised treatment programme after arrest, has been explicitly weighed by courts as mitigation in reported cases, alongside a guilty plea and previous good character. This is exactly the kind of engagement a mitigation letter can document for your solicitor.
One factor worth flagging honestly: "good character" is sometimes cited as mitigation, but courts have been inconsistent about it, and for some offences against children, positive character has been held not to reduce the sentence at all. It isn't something to rely on.
By offence type
Indecent images of children+
Covers possessing, making (which includes downloading or saving), or distributing indecent images of anyone under 18. Images are placed in one of three categories based on content, and the offender's role, possession, making, or distribution, is treated separately, with distribution and making generally treated more seriously than possession.
Volume of images, and whether there's a pattern of deliberate searching for more serious content, can move a case up a category. A diversion scheme may be available for some lower-level, first-time cases, at the police's discretion.
Source: Sentencing Council definitive guideline (page last updated 5 October 2026).
Sexual communication with a child+
Covers sexual messages, requests, or conversation with someone under 16, including online, whether or not the child in question was real. This includes cases where police posed as a child ("sting" operations), since the guideline focuses on the intended harm, not only actual harm caused.
Sharing images, abuse of a position of trust, and the use of threats or bribes are all treated as factors that increase seriousness.
Source: Sentencing Council definitive guideline, effective 1 July 2022 (page last updated 5 October 2026).
Voyeurism+
Covers observing or recording someone doing a private act, without their consent, for sexual gratification. This includes upskirting, taking a photo or video up someone's skirt or clothing, which was made a specific voyeurism offence by the Voyeurism (Offences) Act 2019. Sentenced using the general Sexual Offences Definitive Guideline framework.
Planning, using recording equipment, and abuse of trust generally raise culpability. Images being made available to others, or recording someone in their own home, generally raise harm. Some voyeurism cases result in a community order rather than custody, and for people convicted on or after 22 March 2026, a custodial sentence of 12 months or less must normally be suspended, unless an exception applies.
Source: Sentencing Council definitive guideline (page last updated 5 October 2026).
Indecent exposure+
Covers intentionally exposing genitals, intending that someone will see and be caused alarm, distress, or (under 2025 changes) humiliation.
Cases are dealt with at either the Magistrates' or Crown Court. Each case is decided on its own merits, and sentencing will differ depending on whether it is a first or a repeat offence. In general, someone committing a first offence may only receive a community order or a suspended sentence rather than a custodial sentence. Relevant previous convictions, or targeting a vulnerable person or a child, move a case toward the more serious end of the range.
Source: Sentencing Council definitive guideline (page last updated 5 October 2026).
Also worried about your job or professional registration? See our general guide to what this could mean for your job.
Worried about contact with your children? See our general guide to family court and Cafcass.
Worried about what you can safely say to us? See our general guide to confidentiality and the police.
You don't have to process this alone
Whatever your case involves, and whatever happens with it, we offer confidential support alongside your solicitor, not instead of them, and can prepare a letter on your engagement in therapy if that's useful for your mitigation.
Get in touch in confidenceAbout this page: the information above is drawn from definitive guidelines published by the Sentencing Council for England and Wales, an independent public body, and from published Court of Appeal decisions showing how those guidelines have been applied. Guidelines are reviewed and updated periodically. This page was checked against the Sentencing Council's published guidelines on 26 October 2026, and should be checked against sentencingcouncil.org.uk for the current version.
Recent changes to know about: for people convicted on or after 22 March 2026, a court must normally suspend a custodial sentence of 12 months or less, unless a listed exception applies. For convictions on or after 29 June 2026, grooming of a person under 18 in connection with an offence is a statutory aggravating factor in several of the guidelines above. Your solicitor can explain how these apply to you.