Dozens arrested over grooming in Shropshire and Mid Wales
Dozens of adults have been arrested by the police forces that cover Shropshire and Mid Wales for meeting or attempting to meet children after grooming them online.
A total of 79 people came into contact with officers who work for the two forces for an offence involving online grooming of boys or girls aged under 16 in the past four years.
Of these, 63 were arrested by West Mercia Police and around half of these are now on the Sex Offenders' Register, while 16 online grooming offences have been recorded by Dyfed-Powys Police since 2011, with five of these being put on the register.
Number of arrests by West Mercia Police:
2010 9
2011 14
2012 16
2013 9
2014 9
2015 6
TOTAL: 63 – 28 are on Sex Offenders' Register
Total number of 'online' grooming offences recorded by Dyfed-Powys Police:
2011/12 4
2012/13 1
2013/14 6
2014/15 5
TOTAL: 16 – of these across the period from 2011, six were charged, four jailed, five put on the Sex Offenders' Register
West Mercia Police, which covers Shropshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire, took no further action in 24 abuse cases and two were handed a caution.
However, police chiefs warned this only highlights part of the problem as not all offences involving grooming appear under listed charges of adults attempting to meet or meeting under 16 year olds after talking to them on the internet.
The figures obtained by the Shropshire Star highlight the dangers facing the most vulnerable young people in today's society.
And they show that young people are still in danger, two years after seven men were jailed for an organised sex ring in Shropshire following the police's Operation Chalice investigation.
Today, police chiefs and children's charity leaders spoke of the difficulties involved in monitoring sex-related internet crimes.
West Mercia Police superintendent Stephen Eccleston, part of the Protecting Vulnerable People unit, said: "I would encourage anyone who has been a victim of grooming to come forward safe in the knowledge that you will be believed and we will take action."
The truth about the horrific story of sexual abuse and exploitation of schoolgirls by a group of men in Telford was revealed two years ago. Operation Chalice was one of the largest investigations in West Mercia Police history, with a team of up to 50 officers working on the inquiry to bring the men to justice.
A gang of Asian men who groomed vulnerable girls for sex were jailed for more than 50 years.
Parents told to learn online danger signs
Parents must be aware of the dangers posed by the internet, police bosses warned today.
It comes as new figures released to the Shropshire Star reveal that scores of adults take to online sites to target and exploit 'vulnerable' children.
Online grooming is communication with the ultimate aim of meeting up to form a sexual relationship or persuading a child to perform sexual acts online.
She met the abuser, called Barry, when she was 15, and in the months that followed he bombarded her with inappropriate messages, naked pictures and threatened her family.
The victim, who has been named as Crystal by the NSPCC, has urged anyone with a problem to get in touch with the charity.
She said: I met Barry when I was 15 and he was buying fags for my mate.
My friend knew him and she must have given him my number because he started texting me.
The texts were friendly to start with and normal. This went on for a week or two and I felt OK, it didnt bother me. But he started getting weird.
He started sending me sexual messages. He then sent me pictures. Then he sent about three or four videos. I didnt want to think about it and couldnt tell anyone. He was asking me to send him pictures of my body. I didnt send him any. He asked to meet me and said if I didnt hed stab dad and my boyfriend.
The messages continued for about four months. One day he was bombarding me with messages and my dad saw them and told the police. The police thought there wasnt enough evidence. Its good that its now an offence from the first time an adult sends a sexual message. It will help because it would be easy to get evidence and Barry would have got a police record.
My social worker referred me to the NSPCC child sexual exploitation service Protect and Respect and I was allocated an NSPCC social worker who provided me with support.
The NSPCC helps because my worker believes me, she listens to me. I can talk about anything to her, including anything that is worrying me. I would tell anyone who had a problem to get in touch with the NSPCC.
* The experience of Crystal is true but the names in the case have been changed.
Where to get help:
- For more information on the NSPCC visit www.nspcc.org.uk
Call the NSPCC helpline: If you're worried about a child, even if you're unsure, contact professional counsellors 24/7 for help, advice and support. Call 0808 800 5000 or email help@nspcc.org.uk
- ChildLine: 18 or under? ChildLine offers free, confidential advice and support.
Call 0800 1111 or visit childline.org.uk
- Further information and advice, as well as details of sources of support, are available on the West Mercia Police website.
- The UK safer internet centres website is available at saferinternet.org.uk
- Information on the Child Exploitation and Online Protection is at ceop.police.uk
- Resources suitable for parents and children can be found at thinkuknow.co.uk
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By the nature of the world wide web, the offender can be based anywhere.
Todays figures reveal a total of 79 people came into contact with officers who work for the two police forces that cover Shropshire and Mid Wales for attempting to meet or meeting boys and girls aged under 16 following online grooming in the past four years.
Of these, 63 were arrested by West Mercia Police and 28 adults were put on the Sex Offenders Register.
Dyfed-Powys Police recorded 16 online grooming offences since 2011, with five of these being put on the register six were charged and four went to prison.
West Mercia Police, which covers Shropshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire, recorded that in 24 cases no further action was taken and two were handed a caution.
The issue is one that continues to challenge police.
Seven men were jailed two years ago for an organised sex ring in Shropshire involving teenage girls in the Telford area, many of them in care or vulnerable.
A long-running Operation Chalice investigation revealed grooming by gangs of men that led to abuse. It led to sentences of up to 18 years being handed out.
Stephen Eccleston, Superintendent for Protecting Vulnerable People for West Mercia Police, said: It is important that children and young people are aware of the risks and how to protect themselves, both in their every day and online lives.
Likewise, its important that parents work with us and our partners to learn the warning signs in childrens behaviour which may indicate something is wrong. Child grooming is a serious offence.
More recent cases involving online grooming offences included that of married man Stephen Wood.
The 49-year old was jailed for three years in February after he groomed a teenage boy for sex on the internet and had sexually explicit photographs of the victim.
Wood, of Vennington, near Shrewsbury, had admitted a charge of sexual grooming, possession of indecent images of the youth and three charges relating to the indecent images of children in May and June 2013.
In June this year, a man who discussed extreme graphic and violent sexual encounters with a 12-year-old girl over Facebook was jailed.
Another man who posed as Canadian pop star Justin Bieber to groom children on the internet was jailed in February 2014.
Self-styled paedophile hunter Stinson Hunter welcomed a verdict after former solicitor Martin Currier was convicted for attempting to meet a child after sexual grooming.
The Telford bookie was caught in a sting operation guilty of attempting to meet a child he had chatted up online. The operation run by Mr Hunter and a team of volunteers, which works to expose predators online, has led to 19 convictions including two from Shropshire.
Superintendent Eccleston said: What these figures show is that, where there is sufficient evidence, an arrest will be made and the suspect will often be charged with grooming offences.
Resources have been invested in training police officers to help them to spot the early warning signs and, along with our partner agencies, we remain committed to tackling child sexual exploitation with a consistently strong approach in order to protect vulnerable young people.
Chief Inspector Steve Cockwell, of Dyfed-Powys Police, said: Online grooming targets vulnerable children and we are committed to targeting the perpetrators of this type of crime. Officers in our newly-formed Digital Communications and Cybercrime Unit are committed to working with the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) and partner agencies to safeguard children and target and bring to justice those who are sexually exploiting children over the internet.
The All Wales School Programme also provides age related lessons to warn children of the danger of online exploitation.
