28 held in ‘online child grooming’ crackdown

TWENTY-EIGHT suspects have been arrested in a major operation into online grooming of children.

Police took action after a 400 per cent increase in the last four years in online viewing of indecent images of children.

Forty addresses were raided across Cheshire last month and a special police team has been quadrupled in size to deal with the huge spike in crimes.

Boredom during the Covid pandemic has been identified as a reason for the increase in offences.

Cheshire Constabulary’s Online Child Abuse Investigation Team (OCAIT) supported by officers from other areas of the force, executed multiple warrants every day in April to arrest suspected prolific offenders across the county.

The constabulary has expanded the OCAIT from a team of 10 detectives and staff, up to a unit of 46. Most of the 28 people arrested have either been bailed or released under investigation while seized devices are examined and the investigations continue.

A force spokesperson said: “A total of 24 children who are in some way connected or related to the suspects have been safeguarded as part of the operation – meaning that other agencies have been informed of the action taken and appropriate risk assessments have been undertaken.”

Det Chief Insp Gavin Day, who oversees the OCAIT, said: “The Covid pandemic saw a massive rise in both children and offenders having greater access to the internet and the various platforms it provides.

“Where other areas of the constabulary got quieter as they saw a decrease in offending, we got a lot busier. That’s also partly been due to social media companies getting better at picking up on these types of offences and identifying offenders, and then bringing them to our attention.”

The month of action coincided with the constabulary joining other police forces in the region to highlight the work of the Lucy Faithful Foundation’s Stop It Now! Helpline. If you’re concerned about your own or someone else’s online behaviour, contact the Stop It Now! confidential helpline on 0808 1000 900 or visit https://www.stopitnow.org.uk/helpline/