Online sex crimes against children up by 60% across North West in just one year
Police forces in the North West have seen a 60% rise in online child sex offences in just one year, according to a children's charity.
Data obtained by the NSPCC shows over 10,000 crimes were recorded by all 46 forces across England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands for 2019/20.
In the North West, the number of offences logged were 1,742 - an increase of 60% in twelve months.
Across the UK, offences increased by 16% from the previous year and relates to crimes that include a cyber element of grooming, sexual assault and rape.
The charity says in the last five years since it became mandatory to record whether a crime involved the internet, numbers have risen to more than 37,000. In those same five years, forces across the North West logged an increase of 152% from 690 in 2015/16 to 1,742 in 2019/20.
The NSPCC warns this figure is likely to be significantly understated due to the way police forces log internet crimes and because the data does not include the lockdown period.
During lockdown the charity say risks to children online increased and Childline counselling sessions on grooming went up.
The charity says this highlights the urgent need for the Government to push forward with the Online Harms Bill, which would place a legal Duty of Care on tech firms to protect children, enforced by an independent regulator.
The NSPCC is calling on the Government to publish its final plans before the end of the year, and get an Online Harms Bill on the statute book by the end of 2021.
Read more: