SIXTY offences of sexual communication with a child recorded in Essex

30 Aug SIXTY offences of sexual communication with a child recorded in Essex

An average of one child per classroom in the East of England has received a naked or semi-naked image online from an adult, a new NSPCC survey has found.

And one in 50 schoolchildren sent a nude or semi-nude image to an adult, according to the largest ever UK survey of children’s experiences online.

The NSPCC’s #WildWestWeb campaign is calling on Government to create an independent regulator for social networks, to force platforms to proactively detect groomers using their sites.

In a survey of nearly 40,000 children, the NSPCC asked young people aged seven to 16 about the risks they face when using the internet.

Children said the problem was not limited to strangers contacting them, and some said they had been sent images by adults that they know.

A boy aged 14-15, said: “My coach sent me a video of Santa stripping naked.”

It comes after NSPCC Freedom of Information requests revealed there had been 60 offences recorded in Essex within the first year of a new crime of Sexual Communication with a Child.

Where police recorded what platforms were used by groomers; either Facebook, Instagram or Snapchat was used in 70 per cent of cases.

The NSPCC has launched a petition calling on Digital Secretary Jeremy Wright and Home Secretary Sajid Javid to put an end to the Wild West Web.

The petition can be found here: http://bit.ly/2BTX0Bm