Number of online child grooming incidents reported to Gloucestershire Police rises during lockdown
New figures from the NSPCC show an 80% increase in reports since 2017
Instagram was the most used platform in child grooming crimes during lockdown, research by the NSPCC suggests.
New data shows there were more than 1,200 online grooming crimes recorded against children in the three months from April to June, with the true scale of the problem likely to be much higher.
The figures reveal how Instagram is increasingly being exploited by offendersInstagram is increasingly being exploited by offenders. It was used in 37% of cases where the platform was recorded, compared with 29% over the previous three years.
In the South West, police forces recorded almost 500 offences in 2019/20, rising by over a quarter since 2017/18 where 377 offences were counted.
Police Forces in the region also registered 117 offences during lockdown earlier this year.
To break it down further, 25 incidents involving offences relating to sexual communications sent to a child were reported to Gloucestershire Constabulary in 2017/18.
This is compared to 45 incidents being reported to the force in 2019/20 - an 80% increase.
The findings have led to renewed calls for Boris Johnson to get tough on tech firms that fail to do enough to prevent offenders exploiting their sites and abusing children.
Facebook-owned apps (Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp) were used in 51% of instances where the means of communication was recorded. Snapchat was used in 20% of instances for which data was available.
The NSPCC warned the pandemic had created a perfect storm for online offenders and believe these figures could mark the start of a surge in online grooming crimes.
With ongoing Coronavirus restrictions across the UK, the charity believes that the risk of online abuse will continue to spike, and many more offences may come to light when children report them at school.
One girl who contacted Childline during the pandemic said: “I am 12 and I don’t have social media but I wanted to get online and chat to people since my friends had done it and told me it would be fun. It started off fine with the occasional ‘hi’ and then men started sending d*** pics and saying really personal things.”
The new data comes as the Prime Minister makes vital decisions about online harms legislation that will create a Duty of Care on tech firms, with an announcement expected within weeks.
NSPCC Chief Executive Peter Wanless said:
“Families have long paid the price for big tech’s failure to protect children from abuse, but the Prime Minister has the chance to turn the tide and put responsibility on firms to clean up the mess they created.
“As the pandemic intensifies the threat children face online, bold and ambitious action is needed in the form of a world-leading Online Harms Bill.
“This means legislation that is tough on online crimes against children and regulation that holds tech companies and bosses financially and criminally responsible if they continue to turn a blind eye to entirely avoidable harm.”