Concerns over children committing sexual crimes against other children
Staffordshire and Cheshire Police have recorded thousands of offences on under-18s
Last updated 10th Jan 2024
The country's top crime agency says it's concerned that a growing number of children across Staffordshire and Cheshire are involved in sexual offences towards other children.
Half of child sexual abuse offences reported to police in 2022 were crimes committed by children, according to a landmark report shared by the National Crime Agency.
Previously around a third of recorded crimes were classed as child-on-child - those aged 10 to 17 committing offences against other children - but in 2022 this rose to 52% in what police called "a growing and concerning trend".
This included what is classed as "exploratory online sexual behaviours", but also serious sexual assaults including rape.
Data obtained by the NSPCC shows that the number of child sexual offences rose by 8.5% from 1,503 in 2020/21 to 1,631 in 2022/23, amid fears an increasing amount of those offences may have been committed by other children.
The situation in Staffordshire
Staffordshire Police recorded 2,149 offences against under-18s in 2022/23.
In the West Midlands, 8,265 offences were recorded by police forces in 2022/23.
The situation in Cheshire
Cheshire Police recorded 2,149 offences against under-18s in 2022/23. That's an 18% increase on the previous year.
In the North West, combined figures from Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Cheshire and Lancashire show 12,778 offences were recorded by police forces in 2022/23.
Demand increases
Denise Ellis, head of the NSPCC Helpline service, said: "we receive on average one call every hour that's related to child sexual offences; the numbers are rising.
"Every day we're receiving calls in regards to harmful sexual behaviour - and this is peer-on-peer abuse. What they've got access to these day can contribute to it, with inappropriate online platforms and young people pretending that they're a different age."
Ian Critchley, National Police Chiefs Council lead for Child Abuse Protection and Investigation, said:
"We also know that sadly reported crime remains significantly lower than the actual crimes of child abuse that take place with the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse reporting one in six girls and one in 20 boys will be abused in childhood, an appalling statistic and one we must all seek to change.
"This analysis will help police and our partners develop and improve our prevention, disruption, and investigation of these appalling crimes against children."
Wendy Hart, deputy director for Child Sexual Abuse at the National Crime Agency, said:
"It highlights that this is a largely hidden crime, and the NCA estimates that there are up to 830,000 adults in the UK that pose some degree of sexual risk to children.
"We also know from our collective analysis that the severity of offending has increased, as have the complexities faced by law enforcement in tackling it.
"We are now seeing hyper-realistic images and videos of abuse being created using artificial intelligence, for example, while the rollout of end-to-end encryption by technology platforms makes it a lot more difficult for us to protect children.
"Alongside our policing partners and Ofcom, we are working closely with industry to ensure platforms have adequate safety measures designed in, and that our collective ability to tackle the threat keeps pace with technology.
"With over half of reported crimes involving child on child abuse, there has never been a greater need for education in this space.