Parents need to be aware of new trends in child sex offending

Parents should be doing more to protect their children from child sex offenders, is the message from the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre – today

Parents are being warned not to plead technological ignorance when it comes to monitoring their child’s online behaviour as there are plenty of resources available to help keep their child safe whilst they use the internet.

CEOP are finding that child sex offenders are switching between the internet and the offline world with increasing severity in their attempts to target and abduct young victims

Parents are also being urged to download a copy of CEOP’s 2008/09 Strategic Overiew, designed to inform the wider policing and child protection communities of new trends and patterns of offender behaviour.

In the last 12 months, almost 5500 reports were received by CEOP, of which 2500 came from members of the public using the organisation’s online reporting tool.

A whopping 1373 of these reports came from level headed young children themselves, of which 89 per cent related to instances of grooming.

CEOP is proving to be a success in the fight against online stranger danger. In 2006/07, there were 83 arrests as a result of intelligence reports from CEOP or through the deployment of CEOP resources. In 2008/09, this jumped to 384, leading to 139 children safe guarded.

Jim Gamble is Chief Executive of the CEOP Centre and heads up child protection for the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO). He is asking parents to accept greater responsibility when it comes to their child’s online presence and that stating they don’t understand the ways of the internet is not good enough. User friendly advice is available from ceop.police.uk, ITUNES and CEOP’s YouTube Channel.

He said: “There is a danger that each year we and many others appear to be saying the same thing. Offenders use the internet, children put themselves at risk and parents and carers remain oblivious.  Have we reached saturation point of safety advice or are we being intimated and seduced by the complexity of the technology?

“There is a strong mix of both and simplicity is the key while apathy is a risk.  This is not about understanding technology or even necessarily the latest online service.  It is about behaviour.  That is why we have taken today’s step and put out podcasts and materials that supplemented by our wider services demystify the jargon and rhetoric and ask parents and carers to sit up and take note.

Growing trends show sex offenders using online networking to communicate with each other, sharing sickening images and footage of abuse.

There has also been a particular increase in the use of webcams linked to instant messaging technology to incite children into witnessing or performing a sexual act.

The virtual environment is no safer for children when it comes to stranger danger and is simply and extension of the real world.

To find out more about CEOP and their work, visit: www.ceop.police.uk