More than 150 people have been reported to police forces across Wales for meeting a child following sexual grooming over the last five years, NSPCC Cymru/Wales can reveal.
Figures obtained under a Freedom of Information request showed a total of 155 recorded crimes of adults meeting a child under the age of 16 following sexual grooming across Wales’s four police forces.
Grooming is defined as when someone builds an emotional connection with a child to gain their trust for the purposes of sexual abuse or exploitation.
It can happen online or offline, with children often unaware that they have been groomed and that what has happened to them is abuse.
Dyfed Powys Police saw the highest number of recorded crimes with a total of 60, followed by South Wales Police with 35, Gwent Police with 34 and North Wales Police with 26.
Nearly 60% of those recorded by police in the years 2011 to 2015 also included an online element.
Dyfed Powys Police saw the largest number of grooming crimes including an online element with 37, followed by Gwent Police with 22, North Wales Police with 17 and South Wales Police with 16.
The figures come as the charity repeats its calls for the Welsh government to take the lead in protecting children from any harm online, such as grooming, cyber bullying, sexting, and viewing child abuse images.
NSPCC Cymru / Wales has called for a comprehensive online safety action plan, underpinned by a digital advisory group led by a panel of experts.
The charity has also called for compulsory age-appropriate online safety lessons for school children, working alongside the priority given to digital competence in the school curriculum from September this year, to teach children about the dangers of social media and online grooming.
Peter Wanless, CEO of the NSPCC, said: “We know that in a large number of cases, attacks are carried out on children by abusers who have first groomed them for this purpose. As these figures show, most of this grooming now increasingly takes place online.
“The internet is a fantastic resource to help children learn about the world around them and enjoy all it has to offer, but they need to be taught about the dangers online and how they could be exploited.
“Education is the key to teaching children how to use the internet safely so they don’t find themselves at risk of serious harm.
“Online safety is a 21st century child protection challenge and it is something that we need to tackle head on.
“It is important that children who have been groomed and abused have the confidence to come forward and know that they will be listened to and believed.”
He added: “The NSPCC runs a number of programmes that support children who have been abused and help them rebuild their lives.
“Our Protect and Respect programme helps young people who are vulnerable to sexual exploitation or who have been sexually exploited, whilst out Letting the Future In programme helps children who have been sexually abused.
“We also offer advice about warning signs to parents, who are concerned that their children may have been groomed.”
If an adult is worried about a child they can call the NSPCC 24/7 on 0808 800 5000 in confidence
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