According to a Home Office news release published on 4 September 2026, the government has backed the Child-like Sexual Abuse Dolls (Offences) Bill after its second reading in the House of Commons, with ministers saying the measure has now moved to committee stage. The proposal would create a specific criminal offence covering the making, possession, importation, supply and offer to supply child-like sexual abuse dolls, with a maximum sentence of five years on indictment. (gov.uk)
As introduced, the bill would insert new sections 46D and 46E into the Sexual Offences Act 2003. It uses the term CSA doll for a doll or other object that resembles a child, or part of a child’s body, and that a reasonable person would regard as made for, or intended for, sexual activity. The text also provides for liability where a company, partnership or association commits the offence with the consent or connivance of a relevant manager or officer. (publications.parliament.uk)
The Home Office said police have already encountered these items in child sexual abuse investigations and while monitoring registered sex offenders, but that current legislation does not create a specific offence of ownership or manufacture. The bill would also apply entry, search, seizure and forfeiture powers used under the Protection of Children Act 1978, and it would add the new offence to the sexual offences notification regime where an offender receives at least 12 months’ imprisonment. For enforcement agencies, the proposal is intended to create a clearer route from discovery to confiscation, charge and post-sentence monitoring. (gov.uk)
Ministers are presenting the measure as part of a wider child protection package enacted through the Crime and Policing Act 2026. Government material on that Act says Part 5 introduced mandatory reporting for people in regulated activity with children in England, a criminal offence of obstructing a required report, a statutory aggravating factor for grooming at sentence, new offences linked to AI-generated child sexual abuse material, and wider Border Force powers over digital devices at the border. In policy terms, the dolls bill is being placed alongside recent action aimed at both contact abuse and technology-enabled offending. (gov.uk)
Funding is being used to reinforce that legislative package. In a separate announcement on 19 May 2026, the Home Office said it was providing £100 million to tackle child sexual abuse, including £38 million for Operation Beaconport, alongside money for policing, investigations and support for victims and survivors. The National Crime Agency said its co-ordinated work across UK policing was already producing almost 1,000 arrests and 1,200 children safeguarded each month. (gov.uk)
Sector response has been broadly supportive. In the government release, the NSPCC said there is no comprehensive evidence that these products prevent contact offending and warned that realistic props may contribute to desensitisation; Barnardo’s, NAPAC and CEASE each argued that products which sexualise children or mimic their abuse should not be normalised or commercialised. The public case made for the bill is therefore centred on child protection, policing powers and closing a legislative gap, rather than on any claim that such items reduce risk. (gov.uk)
The measure remains a bill rather than an enacted change. The Home Office said on 4 September 2026 that it had progressed to committee stage, and the UK Parliament bill page lists Munira Wilson as sponsor. It must still complete the rest of its Commons stages, then pass through the House of Lords and secure Royal Assent. Even after that, the bill says the new offence would start on a day appointed by the Secretary of State in regulations, so commencement would follow later. For retailers, online sellers, importers and agencies supervising sex offenders, that timetable will determine when criminal liability and enforcement begin in practice. (gov.uk)