Number of online child sex crimes doubles in Cornwall and Devon in one year
Police recorded 52 offences in the region in 2019/20
Last updated 4th Sep 2020
It has been revealed that the number of recorded online child sex crimes in Cornwall and Devon has doubled within a year.
52 crimes were recorded by police in the region between 2019 and 2020, up from 26 the year between 2018 and 2019. That is a rise of 100%.
Devon and Cornwall Police say the increase in reports is in line with the national rise of offences of this nature and believe it is due to a number of factors, including the emergence of social media - more children are exposed to online abuse, changes to the way police record information and an increase in public confidence to report such crime. Read more.
Figures obtained by the NSPCC show offences across the whole South West region rose by 45% during that time, with police forces logging 487 offences.
Nationally, 10,391 crimes were recorded by all 46 forces across England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands for 2019/20 – this is the first time the figure has passed the 10,000 mark.
The offences included crimes that had a cyber element such as grooming, sexual assault and rape.
The charity is warning that the figure is likely to 'significantly understate the true extent of the problem' due to potential under-recording by police forces of the role of the internet and variation in the way forces log these crimes.
While the Freedom of Information data does not include the lockdown period, risks to children online increased and Childline counselling sessions on grooming went up.
The charity says this highlights the urgent need for the Government to push forward with the Online Harms Bill, which would place a legal Duty of Care on tech firms to protect children, enforced by an independent regulator.
The NSPCC is calling on the Government to publish its final plans before the end of the year, and get an Online Harms Bill on the statute book by the end of 2021.
“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.”
Andy Burrows, NSPCC Head of Child Safety Online Policy
Olivia’s daughter Emma (not their real names) was groomed and sexually exploited through an online game called Movie Star Planet from when she was just six-years-old.
The abuser gained her trust then threatened her into sending him and other adults sexually explicit images and committing sexual acts for two years.
“He would threaten to expose her if she didn’t do as she was told, that he would even put her in a “shallow grave” or kill us, her parents.
“As she got older, she is now 14, she began to struggle. Her behaviour changed, she became angry, depressed and would cry without really knowing why.
“She found it incredibly hard to make herself go into school and would ring me in tears, not knowing why she couldn’t go through the door. It was horrible, I felt so helpless when she talked about self-harming and not wanting to go on living.”
The NSPCC has been campaigning for a Duty of Care on tech firms since the launch of its Wild West Web campaign in 2018.
The Government published the Online Harms White Paper in April 2019 but are still yet to produce the final consultation response.
The charity previously published a set of set of regulatory proposals setting out how social media regulation should work, called Taming the Wild West Web.
At the end of the month, they will set-out further proposals explaining what powers the independent regulator needs in order to protect children online.
The government says it will introduce new laws "to place a duty of care on online platforms."
Adults concerned about a child online can contact the NSPCC Helpline confidentially for advice and support on 0808 800 5000 or email help@nspcc.org.uk