Child abuse image offences surge by 22% in East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire in five years

Child abuse image offences recorded by Humberside Police have surged by 22% in just five years.

Research by the NSPCC shows there were 457 reports made in East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire in 2021/22.

Nationally, child abuse image offences recorded by police forces across the UK have jumped by two thirds (66%) in five years, with more than 30,000 crimes involving the sharing and possession of indecent images of children recorded last year (2021/22), according to freedom of information data obtained by the children’s charity.

The NSPCC warns that unregulated social media is fuelling the unprecedented scale of online child sexual abuse and behind every offence could be multiple child victims who are continually revictimized as images are shared.

The charity is calling on Government to give children, including victims of sexual abuse, a powerful voice and expert representation in future regulation by creating a statutory child safety advocate through the Online Safety Bill.

Holly* called Childline in despair when she was 14. She said:

“I am feeling sick with fear. I was talking with this guy online and trusted him. I sent him quite a lot of nude pictures of myself and now he is threatening to send them to my friends and family unless I send him more nudes or pay him.

“I reported it to Instagram, but they still haven’t got back. I don’t want to tell the police because my parents would then know what I did and would be so disappointed.”

Roxy Longworth was 13 when she was contacted by a boy four years older than her on Facebook who coerced her into sending images via Snapchat.

He sent the pictures to his friends which resulted in Roxy being blackmailed and manipulated into sending more images to another older boy who shared them via social media.

Roxy said:

“I sat on the floor and cried. I’d lost all control and there was no one to talk to about it. I blocked him on everything and prayed he wouldn’t show anyone the pictures because of how young I was.

“After that, I was just waiting to see what would happen. Eventually someone in my year sent me some of the pictures and that’s when I knew they were out.”

Sir Peter Wanless, Chief Executive of the NSPCC, said:

“These new figures are incredibly alarming but reflect just the tip of the iceberg of what children are experiencing online.

“We hear from young people who feel powerless and let down as online sexual abuse risks becoming normalised for a generation of children.

“By creating a child safety advocate that stands up for children and families the Government can ensure the Online Safety Bill systemically prevents abuse.

“It would be inexcusable if in five years’ time we are still playing catch-up to pervasive abuse that has been allowed to proliferate on social media.”