"Online grooming offences have reached a record high, with police data revealing a four-year-old boy as being among the victims. The NSPCC described the figures, which show an almost doubling of such crimes over the past eight years, as "deeply alarming". A new offence of sexual communication with a child was introduced in England and Wales in April 2017, specifically to tackle groomers targeting under-16s through mobile phones and social media."
"The NSPCC, which sent freedom of information requests, said it received data from all forces except Lincolnshire. In 2,111 of the recorded offences in the past year a tech platform was identified. Around 40 per cent of those offences took place on messaging app Snapchat while 9 per cent happened on WhatsApp and 9 per cent on Facebook and Instagram, the NSPCC said."
Police recorded 7,263 online grooming offences in the year to March, almost double the 3,728 recorded in the year to March 2018. A sexual communication with a child offence was introduced in England and Wales in April 2017 to tackle groomers targeting under-16s via mobile phones and social media. Northern Ireland has recorded the offence since 2015 and Scotland since 2010. Tech platforms were identified in 2,111 offences; about 40% occurred on Snapchat, 9% on WhatsApp and 9% on Facebook and Instagram. Girls made up 80% of victims where gender was known and the youngest victim was four. Recorded offences likely undercount true prevalence because abuse often occurs in private spaces that are harder to detect.
Read at www.independent.co.uk
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