REPORTED cases of online grooming crimes in the West Midlands have more than doubled since records began, new data has shown.
Data complied by the national children’s charity, the NSPCC, has revealed that over 450 ‘sexual communication with a child’ offences were recorded by police forces across the region last year.
This is more than double the figure that was reported in the year 2017/18, which was when laws criminalising such offences came into force.
Data from four police forces that operate in the region - Staffordshire Police, Warwickshire Police, West Midlands Police and West Mercia police – was analysed in the NSPCC’s investigation.
West Midlands Police alone recorded that online grooming cases have increased by 944% over the past seven years.
Across the UK, over 7,000 offences were recorded last year, an increase of almost 90% since records began.
The youngest reported victim of online grooming last year was just five years old.
The NSPCC published their findings a year on from the passing of the Online Safety Act, which had the aim of keeping children and adults safe online.
As well as alarming statistics about the rate of such crimes, the new findings also revealed that social media messaging sites play a significant role in cases of online grooming, with the platform Snapchat being mentioned in almost half of all grooming cases in the UK where means of communication was disclosed.
Meta platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram were also popular with perpetrators, featuring in over a quarter of cases, as well as growing social media giant TikTok.
In cases where the gender of the victim was disclosed, it was found that girls made up over 80% of online grooming victims last year.
The NSPCC has urged regulators from Ofcom and the UK Government to act on their findings and implement stronger protections against online child sexual abuse.
Sir Peter Wanless, NSPCC Chief Executive, said: “One year since the Online Safety Act became law and we are still waiting for tech companies to make their platforms safe for children.
“We need ambitious regulation by Ofcom who must significantly strengthen their current approach to make companies address how their products are being exploited by offenders.
“It is clear that much of this abuse is taking place in private messaging which is why we also need the UK Government to strengthen the Online Safety Act to give Ofcom more legal certainty to tackle child sexual abuse on the likes of Snapchat and WhatsApp.”
National Police Chief’s Council Lead for Child Protection and Abuse Investigations (CPAI), Becky Riggs said: “The numbers in this NSPCC data are shocking and policing joins partners in urging tech companies and Ofcom to fulfil their legal and moral obligations to keep children safe from harm within the online communities they have created.
“A year on from the Online Safety Act being passed, it is imperative that the responsibility of safeguarding children online is placed with the companies who create spaces for them, and the regulator strengthens rules that social media platforms must follow.
“Policing will not stop in its fight against those who commit these horrific crimes.
“We cannot do this alone, so while we continue to pursue and prosecute those who abuse and exploit children, we repeat our call for more to be done by companies in this space."
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