Teenage rape victim sent ‘graphic’ letter explaining attacker would not face charges
A young rape victim was sent a blistering letter describing her attack and saying her attacker would not face charges, a watchdog has revealed.
Her experience is one of hundreds highlighted by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) chief inspector, who said prosecutors failed to adequately explain life-changing charging decisions in six out of ten letters to victims of crime.
Anthony Rogers testified that he didn’t care that prosecutors wrote vital letters to survivors asking whether their cases should proceed to trial.
he said Independent “Something needs to change” after its latest review found that only 36.9 per cent of letters sent under the Victim Communication and Liaison Program (VCL) met basic standards.
The findings left him “extraordinarily frustrated” and “very disappointed” after the watchdog first raised the issue in 2018 and again in 2020.
He said letters were often the victim’s only contact with the CPS after a traumatic event, adding: “From a public trust perspective, it must actually be terrifying for a victim to receive a bad letter or a letter that you think doesn’t explain very well and you don’t really understand very well.”
He added that oftentimes, poor disclosure comes from a lack of good case analysis and strategy in the first place.
He has now called on the CPS to “significantly improve the quality” of letters by July 2027, and wants to see 70 per cent meet minimum standards by then.
The review found that although overall empathy levels had improved significantly since the last review in 2020, 57 of the 420 letters assessed did not demonstrate appropriate empathy with their recipient.
A total of 91 letters did not accurately explain the CPS’s legal decisions, and more than half failed to adequately explain the decision. In five cases, prosecutors failed to spell the victim’s or defendant’s name correctly.
“If you can’t spell someone’s name correctly, how much do you really care about that when you’re drafting that letter,” Mr. Rogers said, but added that this had improved significantly since his last review.
In a letter to a 17-year-old rape victim, a prosecutor included extensive details about the alleged crime and announced that they would not take any further action. The letter did not include any graphics describing the allegations “in minute detail” or any warnings about potentially triggering information.
The report found the letter contained dense legal jargon that was not adapted to the young reader and risked re-traumatizing them.
“I was shocked at how graphic this was,” Mr. Rogers added.
A letter is not just about paper; It is the moment when the justice system speaks directly to the victim
Written by: Anthony Rogers, Chief Inspector, HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate
When someone reports a crime to the police, they are relying on a system that most know little about. Sometimes they wait for months, sometimes longer, for a decision that will shape what their lives will be next. And then in most cases they get a letter.
This letter is not an administrative formality. For a victim of rape, domestic violence or serious violence, this may be the moment when they learn that no one will be judged for what was done to them. In the most direct sense, this is the voice of the Crown Prosecution Service speaking to a person at one of the most difficult points in their life.
This is the third time in eight years that my organization has audited the quality of these letters. And for the third time, I find myself writing: This is still not good enough.
Less than four-tenths of the 420 letters we reviewed met the standard we expected. This figure has increased since 2018, with the CPS really investing in improving victim communications. Empathy in letters increased from 58% to over 86%.
But progress in tone is not the same as progress in content. A warm letter that did not clearly explain why a lawsuit was not filed did not do its job. The Victims Act is clear: Victims have a legal right to understand the decisions made in their cases. It’s not kindness. It’s not a desire. A right.
I have read some of the letters that our inspectors evaluated. In one case, a teenager who reported being raped at the age of fifteen received a letter two years later explaining her decision to take no further action, containing no warnings about its graphic content, repeating her narrative in unnecessary detail, and written in obscure legal language. He was seventeen years old when he opened the door. This is not a failure of any standard template. This is a failure of professional judgment and human care.
I’m not writing this to condemn CPS. In my experience, the people who work at this organization are committed to doing justice to victims. The Victim Center of Excellence has worked hard and its impact is showing.
What I would like to see by our July 2027 deadline is not only better scores, but also the prosecutor writing to the victim asking himself “have I completed this letter?” A different culture where he doesn’t ask. but “will this person understand what I decided and why?”
That’s what the victims owe. And it is entirely within the CPS’s authority to ensure this.
He called on prosecutors to consider the ‘granny test’ when drafting difficult letters by imagining how that letter would be received by a loved one.
“Someone you love opens that letter blindly,” he said. “How would you feel if the person you loved most in the world was yours? I think the CPS needs to think a little more about this now.”
In a separate report into the CPS’s handling of rape cases earlier this year, inspectors found that fewer than 16 per cent of cases met the required standards at the pre-charge decision-making stage.
Although it does not have the legal power to implement its recommendations, the watchdog called on the CPS to take urgent action to improve communication with often vulnerable and traumatized victims.
“I was so angry,” he continued. “I want this to happen because I want everyone to know that after six years, after eight years, something has to change and the service they are getting from CPS right now is not good enough.”
The inspector had previously reviewed the CPS’s prosecution of Nottingham attacker Valdo Calocane; This sparked outrage from the victims’ families after prosecutors accepted his guilty plea to manslaughter through diminished responsibility rather than pursuing murder charges.
He said Calocane’s case highlighted the “fragmented and disjointed” nature of the victim’s journey through the justice system, adding: “It’s very confusing to experience this as a victim.”
In his annual report to Parliament this week, the inspector said victims were being failed by a criminal justice system that treated victim support as a series of separate initiatives rather than a common national priority.
Although the government has made significant investments in victim support, he warns that these measures are being developed separately between different government departments.
“I don’t understand why you, as a victim, have to interact with half a dozen or more people. [people]and that’s actually a potentially very easy situation, you know. “This is a simple case.”
He added that often victims have little knowledge of how the justice system works, from police reports to CPS charging decisions and court hearings, and suggested citizenship lessons in schools would help raise public awareness.
Sarah Hammond, CPS lead for victims and witnesses, said: “Victims are at the heart of everything we do. “Behind every accusation is a person whose life is often deeply affected.
“This report recognizes that although progress has been made, particularly in terms of empathy shown in letters sent to victims, it is clear that significant improvements are still needed. Work to deliver these improvements is already underway.
“Improving the way we communicate with and support victims remains a priority, so they feel informed, supported and at the center of the justice process.”
Independent He contacted the Department of Justice for comment.
