Thousands more ring sex abuse prevention helpline

MORE THAN 6,500 people in Yorkshire called a helpline set up to stop sex offenders viewing illegal online material last year, a rise of nearly 150 per cent from the previous year.

The Stop It Now! helpline, created for people concerned about their sexual thoughts, behaviour and websites they are visiting, has disclosed the number of calls received from West, North and South Yorkshire.

Some 3,587 people called the confidential number from West Yorkshire in 2019, a 163 per cent increase from the year before when 1,365 made contact.

In South Yorkshire the number of people who called the helpline rose from 751 to 1,794, up 139 per cent.

The number who called from North Yorkshire was 1,125, an increase of 131 per cent from the year before.

No figures were available for the Humber region.

The figures for Yorkshire were far above the national average, which saw a 119 per cent increase in calls over the same period.

The helpline claims a “significant proportion” of the callers were teenagers.

Donald Findlater, the Director of Stop It Now!, said the figures were worrying.

He said: “Tens of thousands of men in the UK are viewing and sharing sexual images of under 18s – these men are our friends, family, neighbours and colleagues.

“Most are adults, but a significant proportion are teenagers.

“Many of these men started viewing this illegal material as part of their adult pornography habit, somehow not noticing or perhaps caring that these were images of children being abused.”