New powers to tackle online predators
POLICE are tackling a growing number of cases of abusers meeting children they have groomed online.
Leicestershire Police recorded 27 such offences between April 2015 and March 2016, according to research by the NSPCC - one of those cases was the death of Measham teenager Kayleigh Haywood.
In the previous four years the highest number of cases in a 12 month period had been 11.
Across England and Wales, the child welfare charity said, the total has risen from 371 in the year to March 2012 to 1,021 in the year to March 2016.
However, a new law will enable police officers to offer better protection to groomed children, according to the NSPCC.
The new legislation, which was created in 2015 but only enacted this month, makes it illegal to send sexual messages to children.
It will enable police officers to detain a suspect before a meeting can take place, the NSPCC said.
The charity said it had been calling on Justice Secretary Liz Truss to enact the law as soon as possible.
NSPCC chief executive Peter Wanless said: “The Justice Secretary has done the right thing.
“This is a victory for the 50,000 people who supported the NSPCC’s Flaw in the Law campaign. “It is a victory for common sense. “Children should be as safe online as they are offline.
“This law will give police the powers they need to protect children from online grooming and to intervene sooner to stop abuse before it starts.”
Home Office figures published by the NSPCC show there have been 62 offences recorded by Leicestershire Police in five years. April 2011 - March 2012 - 11 April 2012 - March 2013 - 7 April 2013 - March 2014 - 10 April 2014 - March 2015 - 7 April 2015 - March 2016 - 27 The force has won widespread praise for its efforts to educate young people about the dangers of online grooming.
Its hard-hitting, emotive film about the death of Measham teenager Kayleigh Haywood has been shown to young people in schools across the city and county and in a growing number of areas across the country.
As a result of the screenings, at least 35 young people in Leicestershire found the courage to confide in police that they had been targeted by online groomers. Officers are investigating their reports.
The five minute film is the centrepiece of Leicestershire Police’s ongoing Commitment to Eradicate Abuse and Sexual Exploitation campaign (Cease).
So far, more than 31,000 people have signed a Cease pledge to do what they can to protect young people from sexual exploitation and abuse.
For more information on Cease, visit the police website.