Online sexual offences against children (FOI)

​Request

Please could you provide the following for the periods 1 October 2019 to 31 March 2020 and separately 1 April 2020 to 30 September 2020:

A

The total number of sexual offences committed against children aged under 18 that had an online element

a) Where known, please break it down by the platform/s used to commit the offence (eg Text message, iMessage, WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Kik and so on.)

b) Please provide the number of times an offence was recorded on each platform

B

The total number of indecent image offences committed against children aged under 18

a) Where known, please break it down by the platform(s) used to commit the offence (eg. Text message, iMessage, WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Kik and so on)

b) Please provide the number of times an offence was recorded on each platform

Response

A and B

A total of 14 IIOC offences were recorded in the period requested however only eight had an online element. The table below answers the other questions.

In some cases, the social media was used to disclose the offence to friends or used to discuss circumstances after the event and not used as a medium to commit the offence. Where video / photos are shown between school children and the original sharing platform was not identified: Social Media (No details)