Gloucestershire parents on dating apps warned of abusers exploiting sites
It's suggested that offenders are using dating sites to groom parents and gain access to children
Women in Gloucestershire using dating apps are being warned of abusers using the sites to exploit them in order to gain access to their children.
It comes as a report by Childlight found men who sexually offend against children are nearly four times more likely to use dating sites than non-offenders.
It also revealed that two-thirds (66%) of men convicted of a sexual offence against a child are using dating sites - with one in five using them every day.
Gloucestershire-based abuse charity FearFree says parents using dating sites should be cautious about posting images of their children.
CEO Debbie Beadle said: "If they are putting pictures of their children, or even saying that they have children, this then can result in them being a target for those that wish to gain their trust to have access to the children and thus then exploit the children, and we have actually seen cases of this over the last few years."
Debbie said that during her career she had encountered a number of cases where mums had revealed in their communications with people on dating apps that they have children, are then groomed, leading to the children becoming isolated.
She told us: "They have the trust of the parent which then leaves the child highly vulnerable.
"What we often see is that children don't feel safe for able to comfort because they see that this is mum's new boyfriend and that she's happy and is she going to listen to me? So it causes a huge barrier and it's definitely something which abusers look to target."
Debbie said it's critical that dating site organisations need to ensure their technology is safe for it's users but said that parents also play their part in safeguarding their family.
"When you're meeting someone online, you don't necessarily know who the person is," she said, adding: "Make sure that you know who you're speaking to before you're posting or putting any sort of personal information that could leave you vulnerable to exploitation."
Anyone in the south west affected by abuse can contact FearFree for advice and support.
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