Sexual abuse ‘goes way beyond grooming gangs’, as police warn of 1.2 million child victims last year

New data from 2024 revealed that half of known offending against children, including cases of rape and sexual assault, was committed by other young people, aged 10 to 17.

Family members were also reported to be responsible for the greatest proportion of group-based child sex abuse.

Acting Chief Constable Becky Riggs said the crimes are ‘hugely under-reported’ but added that the stats show police need to focus on tackling all types of exploitation and ‘not just areas that attract political and media attention’.

The number of child sex abuse cases reported to police last year increased six per cent from 2023 - to 122,768.

But experts reckon 90 per cent of incidents don’t get reported, meaning the figure is likely to be ‘significantly higher’.

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The available data shows grooming gangs were linked to 717 offences in 2024, but information about the background of perpetrators is lacking.

Self-defined ethnicity was only recorded for 34 per cent of suspects at the beginning of the police reporting process.

It comes as ministers this week declared a national inquiry into grooming gangs ‘would not shy away’ from exploring the links between ethnicity, religion and culture - and child rape.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said she had commissioned new research "to rectify unacceptable gaps in our understanding of perpetrators' backgrounds and motivations - including their ethnicity and religion.”

Chief Constable Becky Riggs said: “We know there are gaps and have acknowledged that it is not perfect and we quite often wrestle with the question of whether there are better ways to gather that data around both perpetrators and victims.

“We’re never going to get 100 per cent, it’s not a realistic ambition, but it’s important because it tells us so much about vulnerability, societal risks and where we really need to target our resources if there’s a particular group at risk.”

Social media companies are also being urged to do more to prevent child sexual abuse, as the data revealed 42 per cent of all offences last year happened online.

The blackmailing of teenagers by predators, threatening to release explicit images of them, was recorded as an emerging threat.

Snapchat, WhatsApp and Instagram were named as the platforms most-commonly linked with online abuse cases.

Anna Edmundson, Head of Policy at the NSPCC, said the figures ‘bring into focus the worrying scale of child sexual abuse and exploitation, and the growing threat children are facing online”.

She said: “It is vital that we continue to build a detailed picture of when and where these crimes are occurring, who is affected, and how policing and government can respond effectively.

“Alongside improving the data we already collect, we also need to deepen our understanding of how children and young people experience this form of harm.

“That’s why we want to see Government commission a national prevalence study covering all forms of sexual abuse and exploitation to go beyond police recorded crimes.”

Australia this week became the first country to ban social media access for under-16s to protect them from online harms.

But the police chief in charge of tackling child abuse in England and Wales stopped short of calling for the UK to follow suit.

Ms Riggs told LBC: “I don’t think one single approach will stop these types of crimes happening. I think what Australia is doing is very interesting and from a policing perspective, I’m watching to see what the impact will be for their society and protecting children - because ultimately that’s our mission.

“I think this needs a whole system response. There needs to be education, prevention and safeguarding technology put into place long before the harms happen online - we need to use technology in a positive way to prevent the crimes in the first place.”e