Published: Thu 9 May 2024
Over the past 10 years, I have reported from around the world numerous times about the horrors of child abuse, and in recent years, about the evolution of the crime online.
I have covered the sentencing of offenders, interviewed their young and innocent victims, talked to special police investigators who work to try and contain the problem and witnessed first-hand the devastation the crime can cause.
An expert in child exploitation recently said to me: "Law enforcement cannot arrest its way out of this problem."
It is a sobering but true fact. This is a crime that can happen anywhere in the UK, inside any home, in any bedroom, to any child.
According to the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), the rate this crime is increasing grows year on year and the level of depravation does too.
Read the full article at ITV News.
The girl sent a photo to a boy in her class before the image and her phone number were added to all-male online chat groups - she later started disappearing before being abused by "unknown men".
