Parents urged to remain vigilant as nearly 100 children are targeted by predators online in first month of lockdown

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Nearly 100 children who were being targeted online by child abusers were saved by police in London during the first four weeks of the lockdown, Scotland Yard revealed today.

New Met figures show that 45 suspects were also arrested during the same period and dozens of homes searched for possible evidence of crimes.

At the same time, an average of 50 alerts a week about potential online abuse cases in the capital are being passed to detectives by the National Crime Agency.

The statistics will reinforce concerns that the extra time that young people are being forced to spend at home could encouraging them to spend more time online and making them more vulnerable to be targeted by paedophiles on social media and other sites.

Unveiling the new figures today, Met Detective Superintendent Helen Flanagan urged parents to be vigilant and to try to ensure that they monitoring their children’s internet use.

"Officers have been working around the clock since the pandemic started using a variety of different tactics and resources to proactively identify and pursue online offenders and protect children and young people,” she said.

"Anyone who tries to find or distribute indecent images of children online should not think they will be less visible due to the lockdown - they can expect to come to police notice and face arrest, prosecution, a criminal record and possible prison time.

“There is a vulnerable child at the heart of every indecent image or video and by viewing and distributing these, the abuse is repeated over and over again.”

Today’s Met figures show that 92 children were safeguarded by the force between March 24th and April 23rd and 45 suspects arrested. Both figures are understood to have increased since then.

Officials said that the action taken to protect children in such cases varies depending on the circumstances but can include referral to social services or being taken into care.

Det Supt Flanagan said that the new statistics were so far in line with the number of cases ahead of the lockdown with a further 40 children saved in the three weeks before it began and 27 more arrests.

But she said that with statistics still being updated and new cases emerging it remained likely that the coronavirus crisis would lead to an overall rise in online abuse crimes.

She added: "The restrictions have led to a huge growth in internet use, including by children - and inevitably there are a greater number of sexual predators online looking to target and groom young people.

"If your child starts to use the internet in a different way, try to get an understanding of why - are their peers using the same apps, or are they being coerced to talk to strangers in a way they are uncomfortable with? A change in behaviour can be an indication that something is wrong.”

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