Online grooming crimes in Wales more than double since offence first came into force

• Over 550 Sexual Communication with a Child offences were recorded by police forces in Wales last year (2023/24) – more than double the amount since 2017/18 when the offence first came into force
• NSPCC urges Ofcom to significantly strengthen its approach to child sexual abuse and for the UK Government to ensure the regulator can tackle grooming in private messaging

Online grooming crimes have more than doubled in Wales since the offence first came into force, new data compiled by the NSPCC reveals.

The figures provided by Dyfed Powys, Gwent, North Wales and South Wales police forces show 554 Sexual Communication with a Child offences were recorded in 2023/24 – more than double the 274 recorded in 2017/18.

Meanwhile, the number of online grooming crimes recorded by police forces across the UK has increased by 89% in six years (since 2017/18), with more than 7,000 offences recorded.

The new findings reveal that Snapchat* was the most popular platform used by perpetrators to target children online last year, with the messaging app present in almost half (48%) of grooming cases across the UK where the means of communication was disclosed.

Meta platforms were also popular with offenders, featuring in over a quarter of UK recorded cases where a platform was known, with WhatsApp (12%), Facebook and Messenger (10%), and Instagram (6%) all being used to abuse children.

Facebook, WhatsApp, Snapchat, Instagram and TikTok were all used in cross-platform grooming where the pattern of abuse points to a culture where the first point of contact between children and would-be offenders is on the open web.

This can include social media chat apps, video games and messaging apps on consoles, dating sites and chatrooms.  Children are then encouraged to continue communication on private and encrypted messaging platforms where abuse can proceed undetected.

Girls are predominantly targeted by offenders for online grooming, making up 81% of total UK recorded cases where gender was known in 2023/24.

The youngest victim of online grooming in 2023/24 was a five-year-old boy.

Thomas** was 14 when he was groomed online.

 Thomas said: “Our first conversation was quite simple. I was just chatting. The only way I can describe it is like having the most supportive person that you could ever meet. After about a month, the pressure started to build of him trying to prove that I was gay. That’s when he started sending explicit pictures and pressuring me to send images to him. I did send him pictures, but I didn’t like it, and I didn’t want to do it anymore.

“He said he had saved the images and would send them to everyone if I stopped sending more pictures. There was a constant fear in the back of my mind. It wasn’t easy but I managed to block him on all sites and carry on with my life.”

The NSPCC has issued these findings a year on from the Online Safety Act being passed.

The charity is urging Ofcom to significantly strengthen the rules social media platforms must follow to tackle child sexual abuse on their products.

They say the regulator currently puts too much focus on acting after harm has taken place rather than being proactive to ensure the design features of social media apps are not contributing to abuse.

The NSPCC is also calling on the UK Government to strengthen legislation to ensure child sexual abuse is disrupted in private messages such as on Snapchat and WhatsApp.

Sir Peter Wanless, NSPCC Chief Executive, said: “One year since the Online Safety Act became law and we are still waiting for tech companies to make their platforms safe for children.

“We need ambitious regulation by Ofcom who must significantly strengthen their current approach to make companies address how their products are being exploited by offenders.

“It is clear that much of this abuse is taking place in private messaging which is why we also need the UK Government to strengthen the Online Safety Act to give Ofcom more legal certainty to tackle child sexual abuse on the likes of Snapchat and WhatsApp.”

National Police Chief’s Council Lead for Child Protection and Abuse Investigations (CPAI) Becky Riggs said: “The numbers in this NSPCC data are shocking and policing joins partners in urging tech companies and Ofcom to fulfil their legal and moral obligations to keep children safe from harm within the online communities they have created.

“A year on from the Online Safety Act being passed, it is imperative that the responsibility of safeguarding children online is placed with the companies who create spaces for them, and the regulator strengthens rules that social media platforms must follow.

“Policing will not stop in its fight against those who commit these horrific crimes. We cannot do this alone, so while we continue to pursue and prosecute those who abuse and exploit children, we repeat our call for more to be done by companies in this space.”