Sex crimes in the Scottish Borders has risen by nearly 60%, police report reveals

Police officer writing notes. Stock image.
Credit: PA

Sex crimes in the Scottish Borders have gone up by 57.3%, a new police report reveals.

Figures for the period from April 2021 to March 2022, compared against the five-year average, showed there was:

  • 49 rapes and attempted rapes

  • 129 indecent/sexual assaults

  • 159 online incidents, including the disclosure of indecent images online

The report also found:

The police report states: "Sexual crime in the Scottish Borders shows an increase of 57.3 per cent when compared to the five year average and that is predominantly due to increases in online/non-contact offending.

"The decrease in solvency is influenced predominantly by the increase in online offending and threats to distribute intimate images - crimes that require complex and often lengthy, technical enquiries.

"These crimes, often perpetrated by suspects overseas, are simply more difficult to detect.

"As society as a whole becomes more digitised, and we have seen an acceleration of this process during the pandemic, the opportunity for such offending increases."