Crime Stoppers campaign to raise awareness of the signs of exploitation

Do you know the signs of a child being exploited?

Well in new campaign by Crime Stoppers, they're hoping to educate communities in Lincolnshire on what to look out for.

Lincolnshire Police recently shared information on the amount of children targeted by County Lines criminals and the number's on the rise

But Crime Stoppers are looking to tackle this.

Lydia Patsalides is the East Midlands Regional Manager at the charity and tells us why:

"We're launching a campaign that is highlighting county lines, and the grooming, and the exploitation of both young and terrible people, that take place by organised crime groups within this crime type.

"County lines actually refers to the drug line, the phone line that is used for people to actually phone up and order the drugs that they want. With that, a lot of the young people or vulnerable people are exploited in, not just the handling of the drugs, or the handling of money and weapons, but also in the trafficking of drugs.

"We're highlighting this in Lincolnshire, because Lincolnshire geographically is a really rural county, and it's a smaller city in comparison to other cities. So in actual fact, we do see an influx of drugs as opposed to the exportation of drugs. With that, there are people that perhaps come in from bigger cities, and into Lincolnshire and are looking to exploit the younger people that live in Lincolnshire to helping them with this."

Lydia continued to say that the impact can be long-lasting:

"So with county lines, and I guess the criminals that actually want to exploit those are both young and vulnerable, there is a three stage grooming process, and that's referred to as targeted, tested and trapped.

"So the targeted, is actually finding that person that they want to use- and there's no stereotype for who that person is. It could be anybody. It could be that they just met them on social media, and they struck up a conversation with them, that they've met them when they've come into the city or into the town that they're actually targeting as well.

"So once they've actually targeted this person, they'll make friends with them. They will start to introduce them to their life. They will show them that they can live a really luxurious life. It would be money. It would be fun, and they'll be coming places and they'll be involved. You know that they'll become part of what they consider a family, and where they feel like they're trusted, and they're developing really great relationships where they're accepted.

"Then, that grooming process begins, and that young person or that vulnerable person becomes more entwined and starts to give up information about themselves, you know, as to what they like, and what they don't like, what upsets them, and what doesn't upset them.

"Then they'll hit a phase where they start to be tested, so they've being given money, they're being given food, they're being given gifts and their crime group in the criminals that were involved with, will then say, well, actually, I've given you this money, would you just hold this parcel for me? Would you deliver this package? I need you to take this somewhere, can you do that?

"It starts small, but those things progressively become bigger, and if the person that's being asked to do it doesn't want to, they then start to experience threats of violence. They could start to see threats of intimidation, they get blackmailed, and they'll use that information that young person's already given up against them, and eventually they become trapped.

"So once they've actually carried out that criminal act, they will then be told that they are just as implicit in it as they are. They will start to think there's no way out and if they do start to get out, then they will experience the violence. More often than not, there is psychological abuse. There's sexual abuse, there's physical abuse that these young people and these vulnerable people will experience, whilst these criminal members will take control and try to coerce them into it."

With more people knowing the signs of child exploitation and what to do once they spot it, it's hoped that less people will become victims to this.

For more information visit Crime Stoppers.