Forces across North West launch joint campaign to tackle online sexual exploitation

Figures show the number of people in the North West seeking support from a confidential helpline about online child sexual abuse has increased by 37 per cent during the past 12 months.

Almost 25,000 people in the North West sought advice or support via Stop It Now! about their own or a loved one’s online sexual behaviour towards children in the past 12 months.

Stop It Now!, which helps people manage their sexual thoughts and behaviour towards children, says heavy porn habits are cited by male callers as a common pathway into viewing sexual images of children online.

The two-week social media campaign is being delivered by the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit together with the Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside and North Wales forces.

As well as raising public awareness of the problem, it also aims to educate those offending about the harm caused to children in the images who are re-victimised each time their image is viewed online.

During the two week period, police forces will also be highlighting the work they are doing to tackle the issue and drive home the consequences of their behaviour to offenders – including arrest, possible imprisonment, break up of families, and being put on the Sex Offenders Register.

Stop It Now! is urging men to be careful of their pornography viewing habits, as insights show that developing an interest in more extreme porn is a common pathway into online offending against children.

The warning comes as new consumer research, shows, nationally, nearly a third (31 per cent) of men aged 35 and under struggle to determine the legality of sexual content online – a worrying finding as nearly half (49 per cent) agree that watching too much pornography can lead to watching more extreme or illegal content online.

To add further context, Stop It Now! says as men are nine times more likely to view pornography than women, it makes them more at risk of encountering illegal content online.

According to the latest data from Stop It Now! more than 275,000 across the UK sought advice or support via its online self-help or confidential helpline in 2022 – a 67 per cent increase on the previous year.

Figures from The National Crime Agency (NCA) also estimate there are between 550,000 and 850,000 people who pose a sexual abuse risk to children.

The consumer research also showed that 70 per cent of respondents across the UK would encourage a friend or family member to seek help if they believed they were looking at sexual images/videos of children. Around a quarter of people who call the Stop It Now! helpline nationwide do so because they are concerned about another adult’s sexual behaviour involving children.

National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for child protection, Ian Critchley, said: “Behind each of these images is a real child who is being abused, and every view only creates more demand for these appalling offences.

“This is not a victimless crime and it is vital that anyone with information comes forward and seeks help. It is currently estimated that up to 850,000 people in the UK pose a sexual threat to children, either through physical contact abuse or online abuse.

“We are arresting more offenders than ever before and our tools to track down those responsible are better than ever.

“We are committed to targeting the perpetrators of these crimes and bringing them to justice. The consequences of being arrested are huge – you could lose your job, your family, and will be imprisoned and registered as a sex offender.”

Mr Critchley added: “Anyone who is having inappropriate thoughts about children, or anyone who believes a family member may be, should seek help and support from the anonymous and confidential Stop It Now! helpline.

“We know this behaviour has a huge impact for friends, children and partners left behind, which is why no one has to deal with it alone, support is available.

“Working closely with the NCA, policing needs to be supported by individuals acting on and reporting concerns.

“It is also crucial that organisations treat their duties to protect children with the utmost seriousness. It should also be supported by a rigorous legal duty through the Online Safety Bill, ensuring tech companies fulfil their legal, as well as their moral duty, to keep children safe online and report more offenders.

“It is of the utmost importance that the opportunity this presents to protect children is not impacted by the roll out of end to end encryption by tech companies.”

Child sexual abuse prevention expert and Director of Stop It Now! UK and Ireland, Donald Findlater, says the way people use pornography today is “unrecognisable from 20 years ago”.

“The days of top-shelf magazines have been replaced by sophisticated methods that can show people things online they weren’t looking for or usually interested in,” he said.

“This can mean people then search for and need more extreme videos to be satisfied, with some individuals then looking for under-age material and offending as a result.

“Lots of people who view legal adult pornography might be surprised by what we’re saying, and they might think that anyone viewing sexual images of under-18s must be a paedophile, but our experience over many years tells a different story. A story where people find themselves in dark places that they never expected to be, doing things they never expected to do.

“Our message to anyone on that path, or already offending, is that these pictures and videos cause huge harm to the children in them. And watching them has massive consequences for the viewer.

“But it isn’t too late to stop. The thousands of men who call us after being arrested tell us they wish they’d made a change and stopped sooner. Many felt they were in a cycle they couldn’t break and we helped them find a way out – to stop and to stay stopped.

“We hope this information will serve as a wake-up call and that anyone worried about their own, or someone else’s, behaviour will contact us for advice and support.”

Detective Chief Inspector Lee Boycott from the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit said: “Together with our partners, we have a duty to protect children from harm and to deter individuals from committing these types of horrific offences.

“Our teams are relentless in their approach to seek out, identify, and convict those who engage in this behaviour, using all available resources to protect children and, wherever possible, prevent offending.

“Our message to anyone worried about their own or a loved one’s online behaviour is to seek support from the Stop It Now! helpline. Their helpline is confidential and anonymous and could be instrumental in helping to prevent serious crimes from taking place with detrimental consequences that will last a lifetime.”

Detective Chief Inspector Adam Alexander, who heads up Cheshire’s Online Child Abuse Investigation Team, said: “Behind every image or video is an abused child who is re-victimised every time images are viewed or shared, this criminal behaviour can never be excused.

“We’re committed to protecting children from harm and we’ve invested a great deal of resource into our specialist team that tracks down and investigates these people – and we’re very good at it.

“But we know there will always be people in Cheshire who are accessing this type of material and my message to them is that we are better equipped than ever to find out what you’re up to and take action against you.”

He added: “The large number of referrals to the Lucy Faithful Foundation within Cheshire is no accident. We recognise the importance of not only taking action against perpetrators, but working with our partners to stop it from happening again – that’s why we promote the work of the Foundation with every contact we have with offenders and their families and encourage them to seek help and support.”

Detective Superintendent Stephen Reardon from Merseyside Police said they were committed to protecting children from all forms of child sexual abuse and “will not stop bringing offenders of this abhorrent crime to justice”.

“Child sexual abuse and exploitation has a devastating impact on victims and their loved ones,” he said.

“Our involvement in the Stop it Now! Campaign is vital in raising awareness of child protection as well as giving offenders the opportunity to seek help before harming others further.

“As a force we are arresting more offenders who view or share sexual images of children online and protecting more children than ever before.

“In the last year, we made more than 100 arrests, putting in place conditions to protect over 40 families, and safeguarded and protected over 100 children. Our message to offenders is clear – if you think you won’t be found, you’re wrong.

Detective Inspector Fiona Gray, from Cumbria Constabulary’s Cyber and Digital Crime Unit, said they were committed to targeting not only individuals who view and share child sexual abuse images, but also those who communicate inappropriately with children online.

“We will do our upmost to ensure such offenders are brought to justice,” she said.

“Some offenders may convince themselves that viewing indecent images is a ‘victimless crime’, however, behind every image is a real child who is suffering devastating sexual abuse, prolonged by the circulation of the images online. The viewing of images also fuels the demand for children to be abused.”

T/Detective Chief Inspector Tim Hughes of North Wales Police said it will not stop bringing offenders of this “abhorrent crime” to justice.

“We fully support this campaign and have the following message to offenders, victims and the wider public,” he said.

“To offenders we want to say – you are causing terrible harm to children and you are not safe online. You could be the next person we target; which could see us carry out a search warrant and arrest you which could lead to prison and your name added to the sex offenders register.

“To victims we want to say – we will listen to you, support you and help you. No blame. No judgment, but if you don’t feel you can speak to the police yet then you can contact Childline anonymously.

“To the wider public we want to say – this is a really serious and growing threat to children. Offenders come from all walks of life as do the children targeted and online offending can quickly lead to physical sexual abuse in the ‘real’ world. We need you to be alert to the risks so that you can help protect children and identify adults that might pose a risk.”

T/Det Chief Insp Hughes added: “It’s crucially important that the message is clearly understood – we will not stop in our pursuit of those individuals sexually exploiting children online or in person.

“We want all offenders to consider the devastating impact that this crime has on their victims as well as the consequences for themselves and their families when they are caught. Our partnership with Stop It Now! is vital in raising awareness of child protection as well as giving offenders the opportunity to seek help before harming others further.”

Detective Inspector Rachael Ashcroft from the Online Child Abuse Investigation Team at Lancashire Police said: “Within Lancashire alone, between 2021 and 2022, 1,500 people sought support from Stop it Now!

“Our message to anyone worried about their own or a loved one’s online behaviour is to seek support from the Stop It Now! Helpline as soon as possible.

“Their helpline is confidential and anonymous but it could be instrumental in helping to prevent serious crimes from taking place with unimaginable consequences for both you, your family or anyone else involved.”