More than 90 child sex crimes recorded under new law in Shropshire and Mid Wales
More than 90 offences were recorded by police forces covering Shropshire and Mid Wales in the first year since a new anti-grooming law came into force, new figures show.
The new crime of sexual communication with a child came into force on April 3, 2017 and followed an NSPCC campaign.
New figures show that West Mercia Police recorded 73 offences concerning the new crime in the first 12 months, with 37 involving Facebook, Snapchat or Instagram.
Eight offences recorded by the force involved victims aged 11 and under, with 38 involving 12 to 15-year-old victims.
Telford's police chief, Superintendent Tom Harding said West Mercia Police takes all reports of child sexual exploitation and grooming very seriously.
He said the force has dedicated, specialist officers tackling grooming and people targeting children online.
He added: "Officers from our harm reduction units work in schools with young people and teachers, helping to educate around online safety and healthy relationships.
"Protecting children is a priority for us and along with our partners we are determined that anyone engaging in sexual communication with a child is brought to justice, while providing a support to those young people who have been affected and are brave enough to talk to us.
"We work very closely with our partner agencies to raise awareness of child sexual exploitation through our campaign www.tell-someone.org which has recently been relaunched by Telford & Wrekin Council and we will continue to offer our support to the campaign."
Dyfed-Powys Police also recorded 19 offences of sexual communication with a child.
Of these, 11 crimes involved Facebook, Snapchat or Instagram.
A police online investigation team (POLIT) was set up within the force as part of the digital communications and cyber crime unit (DCCU) at Dyfed-Powys Police in March 2017, in response to a growing concern of offenders committing crime online.
The team is made up of detectives and digital media investigators, forensic examiners, intelligence officers and analytical staff, who collate intelligence from various sources about individuals suspected to be carrying out offences online.
Detective Chief Inspector Estelle Hopkin-Davies said: “Safeguarding young and vulnerable persons is a priority for Dyfed-Powys Police and we would urge anyone with information about offences involving children to contact us.
“We have a team of dedicated officers to tackle this type of crime within Dyfed-Powys Police, who will pursue all avenues to detect offenders.
“We know from our investigations that teenagers are willing to talk to people online who they don’t know and have never met, which has the potential to put them at risk of harm.
"We ask parents to remind their children to stop and think if they receive a friend request from someone they don’t know – it might not be the person they say they are.”
The figures were revealed following a freedom of information request by the NSPCC.
Following the children's charity's #WildWestWeb campaign, Digital Secretary Matt Hancock announced that laws would be brought in to regulate social networks, to keep children safe and prevent harms such as grooming.
The charity is now campaigning to ensure those laws are sufficiently robust to prevent grooming and to truly keep children safe.
It is calling on the government to create mandatory safety rules that social networks are legally required to follow and establish an independent regulator to enforce safety laws and fine non-compliant sites.
The charity also wants the government to require social media sites to publish annual safety reports and force platforms to develop technology to detect grooming using algorithms.
Peter Wanless, NSPCC chief executive, said: “Social networks have been self-regulated for a decade and it’s absolutely clear that children have been harmed as a result."
