Access to historical records for child abuse cases

[PhoenixSea]

Not really a typical feminist topic I guess but I felt more comfortable to ask here in this section...
does anyone know about doing a subject access request to get case files from historic child sexual abuse cases? If the person was arrested and questioned at the time but not charged or convicted, would police still have records about this nearly 20 years later or do they destroy those?
I have been thinking about trying to access some information about myself but I am a bit apprehensive. Has anyone done this, and did you find it brings you closure, or just refuels you’re anger, as this case wasn’t dealt with properly at the time

No experience of doing it but if it was me I think it would bring some closure to read what happened. Hope you get some more replies OP.

Not sure, the general time limit for corporates is 7 years, I would imagine for police it's forever since they have large computer storage and cold cases to consider.

You can check with courts in the area. I'd start with the police.

Whatever this is OP I hope you find what you need.

I'm afraid I don't know enough to offer practical help OP but wanted to offer support.
Personally I don't think reading my attacker's words or justification or way in which they slid out of a conviction would bring me closure. I think 'hearing his voice' (by reading his words) would give me fear and rage and especially if things were mishandled by the authorities.
But we are all individuals - I would never think about doing this but you are which shows our processes are different. I would imagine the records still exist and I hope you find help to access them easily and they help you bring things to a close if that's what you decide to do. Good luck, I'll be thinking of you.

I've done this twice for different organisations, its not difficult but you do have to be patient, most organisations are short staffed so ime it takes weeks for them to reply.
I think its best to approach this without any hope that it brings you any benefit or closure. You might get access to your records, but there might not be any useful information in them.
In my case both times I was told that all records had been digitized, the info I was looking for had not been included, and the paper records had been destroyed.

Thank you all for the replies. I’m still on the fence of what to do, so a few things to consider