PSNI probes five cases a week of children being groomed online

2,082 abuse offences recorded by police in 2019/20 265 abuse offences in 2019/20 had internet element

CHILDREN here are being increasingly targeted online by sex offenders, with an average of five cases per week recorded by the PSNI last year.

In 2019/20 a total of 265 recorded sexual offences against children were flagged by the PSNI as having an online element, an increase of over 90% in five years from 138 offences in 2015/16.

PSNI figures obtained by the NSPCC reveal that in 2019/2020 there were 2,082 recorded offences against under-18s.

However, the charity is warning that this 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 different forces log these crimes.

Police across the UK recorded more than 10,000 online child sex offences in 12 months for the first time last year.

SDLP Policing Board member Dolores Kelly said that when the data was analysed alongside National Crime Agency statistics from earlier in the summer — which estimated that at least 300,000 individuals pose a sexual threat to children — the figures were “astonishing”.

“I’m horrified, and I know other parents will be too,” Ms Kelly said.

“And it shows that there needs to be a greater education of and understanding from parents on what the dangers are.

“I know people call for more police visibility, but the reality is that the biggest dangers can lie behind the computer screen.

“What’s needed is the best equipment to deal with it.

“Online crime is spreading so fast that police have to be given the tools to keep up with it.” Detective Superintendent Lindsay Fisher from the PSNI’S Public Protection Branch said the safeguarding and wellbeing of children and young people remains a key priority.

“The internet has become part of our children’s daily routine, an effective educational tool, a way of connecting and communicating with others, and a means by which to have fun,” he said.

“However, we recognise there are many ways that children and young people can be contacted and exploited online and we would welcome any efforts to limit online dangers to our young people.

“I continue to appeal to parents to talk to their children, know what their online presence is and how to report wrongdoing.”

The NSPCC is calling on the UK Government to publish its final plans to have 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,” said Natalie Whelehan of the charity.

“It is now almost 17 months since the UK Government’s original proposals for social media regulation and children continue to face preventable harm online.

“The Prime Minister needs to prioritise a comprehensive Online Harms Bill this autumn that sees tech firms held criminally and financially accountable if they put children at risk.”

While the data does not include t he lockdown period, Childline counselling sessions about sexual abuse in the family tripled during the last six months.

‘I know people call for more police visibility, but the biggest dangers can lie behind a computer screen’