Police crackdown on indecent images of children

Detectives across the North West have joined forces with a charity to tackle the growing problem of indecent images of children.

New figures show the number of people accessing illegal images of young people has doubled in the last four years, rising from 50,000 nationally in 2013 to more than 100,000 last year.

The Lucy Faithfull Foundation is working with the force to crackdown on the demand for sexual images of children online.

They say they want to draw attention to the fact viewing indecent images online is on the rise, to educate those offending about the harm caused to children, and to drive home the consequences of their behaviour to offenders.

Donald Findlater, a child sexual abuse prevention expert and spokesperson for The Lucy Faithfull Foundation, said:

"Too many people, especially men across all age groups, seem to think it is okay to view sexual images of under 18s online. It is not. Not only is it illegal, it also causes great harm - primarily to the children in the images - but also to the offenders themselves."

The charity works to prevent people from viewing illegal material - through self help services to stop people accessing, or continuing to access, indecent images of children.

Video from The Lucy Faithfull Foundation

Offenders are encouraged to visit their Stop it Now! Get Help website that hosts online self-help resources, as well as the Stop it Now! confidential helpline where they can get help to address their online behaviour.

"It can leave a shadow on the rest of a victim's life"

The number of people in the North West already accessing the helpline reached 3,507 last year, a significant rise according to The Foundation.

Mr Findlater added: "Whether arrested or not, we want online offenders to stop their illegal behaviour and stay stopped. Our specialist staff have helped thousands to do this over recent years. We have also helped thousands more family members come to terms with the fact that someone they know and love has engaged in this behaviour and get help to tackle the problem."

The campaign is pledging to raise the issue in the media, on social media and through awareness-raising posters.