03 Apr Reports finds dramatic rise of child groomers in Essex
Police have recorded a dramatic rise in abusers in Essex meeting children after grooming them over the last five years – but from today police will have the powers to stop groomers sooner.
A law was created in 2015 to make it illegal to send sexual messages to children, following the NSPCC’s Flaw in the Law campaign.
Alarmingly police recorded 34 offences of Meeting a Child Following Sexual Grooming in Essex in the year to March 2016. This was up from four in 2012, according to Home Office figures.
The NSPCC pressured the Government to urgently bring in this anti-grooming law, and Justice Secretary Liz Truss has finally listened.
From today online grooming is a crime in England and Wales, meaning police will be able to arrest anyone who sends a sexual message to a child, and intervene before physical abuse takes place.
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, wherever they are in the UK. This law will give police in England and Wales the powers they need to protect children from online grooming, and to intervene sooner to stop abuse before it starts.”
