‘Eighty thousand men are threat to children online’

AT LEAST 80,000 men in the UK pose a threat to children, the Home Secretary will warn today as he says that technology giants are helping to cause more extreme abuse.

Sajid Javid will use a speech to describe his shock at the “scale of the threat and determination of the offenders” as he unveils plans to give police more funding to tackle the issue.

He is expected to call on tech giants and social media companies to take more responsibility for removing images and videos of child abuse from the internet. He is also expected to announce more funding for police to help to tackle the issue.

It comes amid concern that growing numbers of paedophiles are using the “dark web” and military-grade encryption to carry out and share appalling images of abuse. Mr Javid is expected to say: “It was when I visited the National Crime Agency’s child exploita- tion online protection command that the full horror of the scale and evolving nature of child sexual abuse was really brought home to me.

“One officer I met, who had previously worked in counter-terrorism for over 20 years, told me how in all his years of working he’s never been so shocked by the scale of the threat or the determination of the offenders as he is in his current job.” In particular, Mr Javid will describe his horror at dis- covering the National Crime Agency (NCA) estimates that there are up to 80,000 people in the UK who “present some kind of sexual threat” to children online. The figure includes 66,000 registered sex offenders and a further 14,000 people who are currently going through the justice system. Last year the NCA received 82,109 referrals about child abuse images, a 700 per cent increase since 2012.

The Home Office said that there has been an increase in the abuse of children under 10 and babies. “The livestreaming of abuse is also a disturbing and growing trend due to increasing internet speeds, smartphone technology and the growing ease of money transfers across borders,” it warned.

Simon Bailey, chief constable of Norfolk and lead for child protection at the National Police Chiefs’ Council, said: “There is a growing need to pursue offenders who pose the most harm to children and are using sophisticated technology to evade detection.”