Protection of Children Act 1978 (England & Wales)
It is an offence to take, permit to be taken, make, possess, show,
distribute or advertise indecent images of children in the United
Kingdom. The IWF assesses content according to levels set out by the
Sentencing Guidelines Council, click here to see the levels.
An amended version of the Protection of Children Act 1978 can be found here 
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.Please note; it is against the law to actively
seek out such images and doing so in order to report to the IWF would
not be a defence in court.
Section 1 of this act, as amended by section 69 of the Criminal
Justice and Immigration Act 2008, further defines indecent photographs
of a child under 18 years of age to include:
(a) A tracing or other image, whether made by electronic or other means (of whatever nature)
(i) which is not itself a photograph or pseudo-photograph, but
(ii) which is derived from the whole or part of a photograph or pseudo-photograph (or a combination of either or both); and
(b) data stored on a computer disc or by other electronic means
which is capable of conversion into an image within paragraph (a); and
subsection (8) applies in relation to such an image as it applies in
relation to a pseudo-photograph.
Section 1 of the Protection of Children Act 1978, as amended by the
Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, creates various offences of
taking or distributing indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of a
child under 18 years of age. It states:
1(1) It is an offence for a person -
To take, or permit to be taken, or to make any indecent photograph
or pseudo-photograph of a child; or to distribute or show such indecent
photographs or pseudo-photographs; or to possess such indecent
photographs or pseudo-photographs, with a view to their being
distributed or shown by himself or others; or to publish or cause to be
published any advertisement likely to be understood as conveying that
the advertiser distributes or shows such indecent photographs or
pseudo-photographs, or intends to do so.'
Section 160 of The Criminal Justice Act of 1988 made the simple
possession of indecent photographs of children an offence. This is an
Arrestable Offence carrying a maximum sentence of 5 years imprisonment.
Making an indecent image of a child is a Serious Arrestable Offence carrying a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment.
Note: The term "make" includes downloading images from the Internet and storing or printing them out. R v Bowden (J) 1999.
The Act can be purchased from The Stationery Office .
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