A young woman has warned of the dangers of social media sites after falling prey to a “manipulative” online predator.
The victim was a pre-teen when she joined the social media site where she met her abuser.
Speaking anonymously, she told ITV News London:
When he asked to meet her in person, she took a friend with her who was quickly pushed away by the man. She said: “From then we went to a certain place and he sexually abused me.”
Credit: ITV News Reconstruction
Reflecting on her experience of abuse, she added:
The warning comes as Scotland Yard announced its online child abuse and exploitation unit had safeguarded nearly 100 children and arrested 45 suspects in the first four weeks of the lockdown.> The NSPCC warned coronavirus had created a “perfect storm” for abusers to groom children online.> The charity said that while tech firms have scaled back on moderators who combat sexual abuse, offenders are seeing an unprecedented opportunity to target children who are spending more time on the internet at home, and may be feeling increasingly lonely or anxious because of the lockdown.
