Wiltshire Police "mistakenly provided statistics" for NSPCC report
Online sexual crimes against children in the county has dropped despite a charity report say they had more than doubled
A report out today (03/09) from the children’s charity, NSPCC highlighted the scale of online child sexual offences in the UK, which has jumped by 16% nationally in the past year.
However, in Wiltshire, online child sex crimes have dropped by 18% from 77 reported crimes in 2018/19 to 63 in 2019/2020.
Those online sex crimes included: grooming, arranging to meet a child to carry out a sexual offence and engaging in sexual communication with a child.
Det Supt Ben Mant, Head of Wiltshire Police’s Public Protection Department said: “Following a release from the NSPCC reporting the increases in reports over online child abuse over the past year, we are issuing a correction to the statistics published in regards to offences in Wiltshire.
"We mistakenly provided statistics, which suggested that online child abuse offences in Wiltshire had increased by 128% in the past 12 months. This was incorrect, offences have actually fallen from 77 to 63, which is a decrease of 18%.
"However, 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."
Police and Crime Commissioner for Swindon and Wiltshire Angus Macpherson said: “Online child sexual abuse is abhorrent and has a devastating impact on victims and their families and tackling this remains a Force priority.
“However, the police can only do so much and it's also up to parents and carers to be aware and mindful of what your child is doing online and to report it if anything suspicious happens; prevention is key and we can only achieve that by working together."
How to report online sexual crimes
If the child is not at immediate risk but people still have concerns and they live in the Borough of Swindon, they should contact Swindon Borough Council during office hours (8.30am to 4.40pm Monday to Thursday, and 8.30am to 4.00pm Friday) on 01793 466903 or send an email to swindonmash@swindon.gov.uk.
If the child is not at immediate risk but people still have concerns and they live in Wiltshire and not in the Borough of Swindon, they should call the Wiltshire Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) on 0300 456 0108.
Or you can call police on 101, or in the case of an emergency, 999.