POLICE cannot act on 158 complaints about adults having sex with teenagers in their care in the South East, because a loophole means the law does not apply to individuals, such as sports coaches and faith leaders.

At present only teachers, care workers and youth justice workers are legally in a position of trust, meaning it is against the law for them to have sex with 16 or 17-year-olds in their care.

The NSPCC’s Close the Loophole campaign is calling for the laws to be extended to all adults with responsibility for young people, to stop children being preyed upon as they turn 16.

In the past four years police in England and Wales have recorded 1,025 crimes of abuse of position of trust of a sexual nature.

But council figures obtained by the NSPCC show a further 653 complaints were made in England and Wales over the same period about adults who are not currently covered by the criminal law having sex with children in their care.

Councils recorded the adults’ jobs or volunteer roles in 495 cases. In 31 per cent of cases adults worked in sports settings, 14 per cent were related to faith and religious settings and 11 per cent youth work.

One elite athlete reported being targeted by her sports coach who was in his 30s and had been training her since she was 13 years old.

When she turned 16 the girl said he began sending her sexual messages, before starting a sexual relationship with her when she was 17.

He received a temporary coaching ban but because sports coaches aren’t covered by the criminal law, police were not in a position to bring charges against him.

Last November, ex-sports minister Tracey Crouch announced the-then Department for Culture Media and Sport and the Ministry of Justice had agreed position of trust laws would be extended to sports coaches.

But no action has been taken over the last year.

NSPCC chief executive Peter Wanless said: “It is absolutely outrageous the law protects children in the classroom, but not on the sports pitch, or in a whole host of other activities. Government promised to extend these laws to sports coaches, but we’ve yet to see action and I fear they are backtracking.

“Any extension of the law must apply to all adults working with young people. To keep children safe this loophole must be closed – it is not enough to simply make the loophole smaller.”