Friday 11 November 2022 06:59 PM Up to 850,000 predators in Britain pose a sexual risk to children, National ... trends now
As many as 850,000 predators in Britain pose a sexual risk to children, a National Crime Agency chief warned today.
More than 800 offenders are arrested each month but that is ‘barely scratching’ the numbers and technology firms need to work harder to report abuse and clamp down on predators, Chris Farrimond said.
The NCA’s director of threat leadership said it can take just three clicks for paedophiles to access child abuse online.
And he warned that even if children are kept away from the darker corners of the internet they would not be safe, as predators would seek victims on ‘any part of the open web where these people can find children.’
Mr Farrimond’s chilling warning comes as a cyber security expert who blackmailed girls as young as 12 into becoming his sex slaves was jailed for 26 years.
Jordan Croft, 26, admitted forcing 26 victims, all but two of whom were children, to send humiliating pictures and videos of themselves performing sexual and degrading acts.
Croft Jordan Croft, 26, admitted 65 offences against 26 young victims in August (pictured today) and was jailed for 26 years
As many as 850,000 predators in Britain pose a sexual risk to children, a National Crime Agency chief warned (police surveillance image of Jordan Croft)
He sought out girls through online chat platforms - contacting 5,000 people on one platform alone - and used sophisticated methods to cover his tracks.
After persuading his victims to send one nude photo, Croft would then blackmail them into sending him increasingly depraved images of themselves.
He tormented the children round the clock and even made some send him their school timetable so he knew where they would be at all times.
Croft forced one victim to drink her own urine, and even made another sexually abuse her seven-year-old siblings.
Jordan Croft, 26, admitted 65 offences against 26 young victims in August
He was given 18 years in prison and a further eight on licence at Lewes Crown Court today.
‘At the moment we think there is somewhere between 550,000 to 850,000 people in the UK who pose varying degrees of sexual risk to children,’ Mr Farrimond said.
‘That’s right across the spectrum, but it’s a huge number including contact offending and online defence in all its forms.
‘Technology has brought massive, massive benefits to the world to the UK to individuals but at the other end of the scale it really assists offenders who have a sexual interest in children, helping them to perpetuate abuse.’
In the 12 months to March this year, the NCA and UK police forces made a record 10,181 arrests and voluntary attendances, up eight per cent on the previous year.
About 14,500 children were safeguarded in the process - a 15 per cent increase.
‘But looking at the figures, that is just scratching it,’ Mr Farrimond said.
‘You’ve heard the phrase before “we can’t arrest our way out of this”.
‘There are too many out there.
‘It’s not possible to take policing action, law enforcement action, against every single one of them at the same time.’
The ease with which paedophiles like Croft can access content and speak with other likeminded offenders increases the number of people who then begin to pose a risk to children, Mr Farrimond said.
One victim told Croft: 'I want you to suffer as much as I suffered emotionally and physically. You make me sick'
‘Individuals can start having an interest in child sexual abuse simply by viewing online abuse material - which is possible to view with just three clicks of a mouse,’ he said.
‘Then these people find other people who have a similar mindset and they can egg each other on, and share tactics and material.
‘So this behaviour is normalised which accelerates the speed that people become extreme offenders.’
Parents who think their children are safe if they stick to well known social media sites such as Facebook and Instagram were wrong, the crime chief warned.
‘It might be a commonly held misconception that child sexual offenders all occupy the dark web and if you stay away from the dark web then everyone is safe. This is absolutely not the case,’ he said.
‘Child sexual abuses will start where these people can find children and they can find children on the open web.’ Combating child sexual abuse cannot be seen solely as the job of law enforcement agencies, Mr Farrimond argued.
He welcome steps in the upcoming online safety bill which would put a duty of care onto the tech industry and made it mandatory that firms report online abuse as they identify it.
He said law enforcement agencies were working closely with web firms on technology that identified abuse and child pornography as soon as it was uploaded.
‘But we are a long way off from getting the sort of seismic shift we need to properly combat this,’ he added.
Paedophile who blackmailed girls as young as 12 into being his 'sex slaves' is jailed for 26 years: Predator posed as teenage boy in online chats to dupe victims into sending nude selfies... then forced them take increasingly graphic photos Jordan Croft, 26, came into contact with 5000 girls on one online platform alone He made girls as young as 12 film themselves saying they were 'sexual slaves' Croft blackmailed his victims into sending increasingly graphic content to him He forced them to sexually abuse and film themselves when using the toilet He was today sentenced to 26 years in prison as one victim to him to 'rot in hell'By Elizabeth Haigh
A paedophile from West Sussex who targeted girls as young as 12 and blackmailed them into becoming his 'sex slaves' has been sentenced to 26 years in prison.
Jordan Croft, 26, from Worthing, pled guilty to 65 offences against 26 victims aged from 12 to 22 in August.
In a series of
