Over 2,000 online grooming crimes recorded in the North East since offence came into force
The research by the NSPCC reveals Snapchat was the most popular platform used by perpetrators to target children online in 2023/24.
The NSPCC reveals that over 2,000 online grooming crimes have been recorded by police across the North East since the offence first came into force in 2017.
The figures provided by Northumbria, Durham and Cleveland forces show 284 Sexual Communication with a Child offences were recorded in 2023/24 – up almost 20% of the 2017/18 figure, when the offence first came into force.
Meanwhile, the number of online grooming crimes recorded by police forces across the UK has increased by 89% in six years (since 2017/18), with more than 7,000 offences recorded last year (2023/24).
The new findings reveal that Snapchat was the most popular platform used by perpetrators to target children online last year.
Meta platforms were also popular with offenders, featuring in over a quarter of UK recorded cases where a platform was known, with WhatsApp, Facebook and Messenger, and Instagram all being used to abuse children.
Facebook, WhatsApp, Snapchat, Instagram and TikTok were all used in cross-platform grooming where the pattern of abuse points to a culture where the first point of contact between children and would-be offenders is on the open web.
This can include social media chat apps, video games and messaging apps on consoles, dating sites and chatrooms. Children are then encouraged to continue communication on private and encrypted messaging platforms where abuse can proceed undetected.
Girls are predominantly targeted by offenders for online grooming, making up 81% of total UK recorded cases where gender was known in 2023/24.
The youngest victim of online grooming in 2023/24 was a five-year-old boy.
Helen Westermann, from the NSPCC in the North East, said: "These figures are really shocking and highlight the vulnerability of children and young people online, and we're really concerned that private messaging seems to be that frontline of grooming and sexual abuse. So, children are using platforms and then quickly conversations are moving to private encrypted chat.
"Snapchat has featured in almost half of all the child sexual offences last year and that's really concerning because it's where children and young people are at. It's the site that children are using.
"We are concerned. I mean, children are using tech at a younger and younger age and that's not necessarily a bad thing, but there are not the protections in place when children are using these apps to keep them safe by design rather than children having to protect themselves."
A Snapchat spokesperson said: “Any sexual exploitation of young people is horrific and illegal and we have zero tolerance for it on Snapchat.
"If we identify such activity, or it is reported to us, we remove the content, disable the account, take steps to prevent the offender from creating additional accounts, and report them to the authorities.
"We have extra protections including in- app warnings to make it difficult for teens to be contacted by strangers, and our in-app Family Centre lets parents see who their teens are talking to, and who their friends are.”