Police see increase in online grooming in lockdown
THE real-life lines used by online sex predators to prey on bored, lonely children in lockdown have been revealed by police as they battle a wave of internet grooming.
Police say they have seen a significant increase in online grooming reported as young people have been trapped at home, spending more time online vulnerable to perverts.
One Welsh police force says it has seen a 40% rise in reports of grooming, and behind the statistics are young people tricked into performing sex acts and led into damaging online relationships.
The devious offenders often start with mundane, matter-of-fact conversation starters to win the trust of their young prey.
Detectives say they will start conversations with dozens of children at the same time, using the same introductory line over and over again.
One offender in Wales used the line “Hey hun sorry it’s random lol but we got friends in common hope it’s ok to be friends xxx” to start chats with 119 different children.
Another used a fake profile, pretending to be a teenage boy, and had 179 people accept his Facebook friend request. He then went on to secretly film 12 victims performing sexual acts, was caught and jailed for 15 years.
In another case, a 41-year-old predator posed as a 20-year-old to start 475 conversations with young people using the lines “hey”, “hey you”, “hey beautiful”, “hey babe”.
He complimented girls to gain their trust, then asked for photos and videos. Police found 39 indecent images of children on his phone. He was jailed for four years.
Officers urge young people not to trust anyone they meet online, and say that offenders will spend huge amount of time winning trust and exchanging photographs before moving to online blackmail and sextortion.
When speaking to officers dealing with the crime in Wales the examples just keep on coming.
Detective Sergeant Shaun Davies of DyfedPowys Police says: “The increase in cases coming to us since the beginning of lockdown and social restrictions came into force is shocking. Children are spending more and more time online and are getting into conversations with people they don’t know.
“Online predators are taking advantage of children being isolated, missing their friends and needing company, and are preying on them more than ever. Our fear is that with the absence of trusted adults – teachers, youth club workers, sports coaches – more and more children will be suffering with nobody to turn to.
“We want to assure the public that we are still here to receive and investigate reports. We have specialist support available and will never judge a victim. Please, please don’t feel too embarrassed to come forward – we are here to help, and the sooner the problem is raised, the sooner our enquiries can begin.”
The detective and his colleague Nia Evans, who works as an analyst in the digital investigation unit, say online offenders use the same line on dozens of children.
They change their profile name, information and photo based on the child they are trying to target, and use a number of websites and apps to find victims.
“What we see is online predators preying on
young people and their naivety,” he said. “They try to befriend them and will make that person feel special, but in reality they are using conversation starters to lure them in until they get a response they think they can work on.
“They go fishing and keep using the same message time and time again until they have hooked someone.
“They don’t have the pressure of time, and can hold multiple conversations over the course of an evening.
“We are urging people not to trust that the person they are speaking to is actually the person they make out to be in their profile – it’s a fictitious relationship.”
Often cases they deal with are complex, but they do urge anyone with concerns to come forward.
Nia recently dealt with an offender in his late 30s who had groomed more than 470 young people around the world.
He would talk them into sending inappropriate images and then blackmail them, and use them to trade with other offenders.
The investigation meant going through more than 100,000 lines of data and officers had to look through thousands of images and videos to bring him to justice.
“Some victims may not come forward because of fear about what may happen and what people might think of them,” she said. “They use that fear to threaten, but we will do our utmost for the victim to make sure that these offenders are stopped. We really do want to help.”
They would both like to see the major online platforms do more to prevent the offenders in the first place and to self report any offences.
Officers and staff at POLIT have devised a method of retrieving and reading through all online conversations of someone under investigation for online grooming offences.
Nia said: “We review chat records for evidence of further offending, possession and distribution of images, inciting a child to perform a sexual act, for the offence of sexual com
munication with a child, and to protect and safeguard children.
“When we are investigating a suspect, the average device has 60,000 lines of data in 500 to 600 different conversations, all of which we will analyse.”
Evidence shows that once the offender has gained enough trust to receive photos of the victim, they will often move on to the offence of sextortion – making threats that these images or videos will be shared with their friends and family if they do not continue to send more.
For young people the emotional impact of this can be devastating, and investigators find victims believe their only option is to comply for fear of the alternative.
“Once that photo has been sent, it’s completely out of your control and
could be shared anywhere and with anyone,” DS Davies said. “One of the most distressing parts is that the victim will be plagued by the knowledge that their photo could still be available somewhere online into adulthood.
“Please don’t send images or videos to someone you have met online, or be coerced into performing sexual acts, no matter how far you believe your relationship has progressed. You might be secretly recorded, and will have no way of retrieving that footage or even knowing if it exists.
“If you are asked to send any images, end the conversation and tell a trusted adult. Do not be tempted to delete the conversation history as it might be helpful in a future investigation. If you have sent an image, it is not too late to report the incident; once we know what has happened, we can act on it and work to prevent oth
ers becoming victims.”
Parents are being urged to begin conversations with their children about staying safe online, to be aware of who they are speaking to, and to openly explain the risks of accepting requests from people they don’t know.
Cecile Gwilym, policy and public affairs manager for NSPCC Cymru/ Wales, explains that lockdown has created a “perfect storm” for online grooming and that they saw a 60% increase during the first lockdown.
One of the areas of particular concern is what they call “device-rich but time-poor families”.
“Offenders have been taking advantage of young people who are lonely and spending more time online,” she says. “It is a perfect storm. It is important to keep up lines of communication with children and make them aware of the dangers from an early age.”