REVEALED: How many online child sex offences are reported to police?
Figures have been released for Wiltshire and Hampshire.
The NSPCC has obtained the details from police forces around the country through a Freedom of Information request.
In Wiltshire, there were 63 incidents reported to officers in 2019/20, compared to 77 in the previous year.
That's a drop of 18%.
But in Hampshire, they've seen an 89% INCREASE in cases, with 247 incidents were recorded throughout the year.
During 2018/19, there were 131 incidents reported to Hampshire Police.
Detective Supertindent Ben Mant, Head of Wiltshire Police's Public Protection Department has responded to the figures:
"Despite a drop here, we as a Force would never be complacent and work hard to investigate every reported incident to us as well as improving awareness of the signs of online sexual abuse encouraging reporting to the police and our partner agencies.
"We welcome this latest NSPCC report which not only highlights the regional increase in these types of sex crimes involving children but also the need for ongoing awareness of the awful act of online abuse.
"We always want parents, carers or the children themselves to report any type of abuse - either to the police or any of our partners and charities like the NSPCC and Childline."
CHARITY'S CONCERN
The NSPCC is worried that the figures don't reveal the true extent of the problem.
They're concerned that lockdown might mean there's an increase in cases going forward too.
Andy Burrows, NSPCC Head of Child Safety Online Policy, said:
"These figures suggest that online abuse was already rising before lockdown, and the risks to children appear to have spiked significantly since.
"It is now almost 17 months since the Government's original proposals for social media regulation were published and children continue to face preventable harm online.
"At the Hidden Harms Summit, the Prime Minister signalled he was determined to act. That's why he needs to prioritise making progress on a comprehensive Online Harms Bill this Autumn, and pass legislation by the end of 2021, that sees tech firms held criminally and financially accountable if they put children at risk."
HOW TO REPORT ONLINE SEXUAL ABUSE
If a child is not at immediate risk, but you have concerns about a young person and they live in Wiltshire, you can call the Wiltshire Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) on 0300 456 0108.
You can also call police on their non-emergency line, 101.
If a child's in immediate danger, you're asked to call 999.