Online grooming crimes in West Midlands increase almost nine-fold in six years with Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook among platforms used

Hundreds of cases have been reported to the region's police force – growing year-on-year from 2017-22 – with victims as young as six-years-old.

Some of the more popular platforms used to groom children were Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook, with statistics showing 732 reports were made to West Midlands Police over the six-year period.

Figures released by the police force, under a freedom of information request, show 202 such crimes were reported last year, compared to just 23 in 2017.

Campaigners say it is crucial now more than ever that the online safety bill, which imposes a duty of care on tech companies to protect children from harmful content, becomes law as soon as possible.

It will make social media companies more responsible for their users’ safety on their platforms.

West Midlands Police said it strongly encourages parents, children and members of the public to report concerns around online safety, which may include people acting inappropriately, unhealthy relationships and concerns around sexual abuse.

A spokeswoman said: "We have an online child sexual exploitation team, which investigate online paedophile activity including the possession and distribution of online indecent images of children where no known victim has been identified and/or no contact was made with a victim.

"The team provide support and guidance to other departments and have their own intelligence resource in order to prioritise workload, targeting paedophiles who sexually abuse and groom children online.

"We all have a part to play in keeping children safe online, including parents, guardians, teachers, social media platforms and other groups and agencies.

"If you fear you or your child is being sexually abused or groomed please report this immediately."

The figures also show a charge or summons for sexual communication with a child offences were issued by West Midlands Police in 89 of the 732 cases, but there were a large number of cases where evidential difficulties prevented further action or no suspect was identified.

The region's police and crime commissioner, Simon Foster, said it was important to have an "effective national approach" and he is committed to holding West Midlands Police to account, ensuring that perpetrators are brought to justice.

He said: “Online child sexual abuse and exploitation are abhorrent and appalling crimes that can destroy the lives of victims and their families. However, the number of offences continues to increase.

"The internet has made it much easier for adults to groom, sexually abuse and exploit children.

"It has also made it much easier to access indecent images of children. This kind of behaviour on the internet proliferates, in part, because of inadequate legal and technological safeguards on internet use.

“West Midlands Police have a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.

"In addition to the commitment and dedication of frontline investigators, we need a consistent and effective national approach to preventing and tackling this issue.

"This includes minimum investigative standards and training. It is important that information is shared with partners, so that opportunities to refer children and families for support are not missed. The online safety bill represents a critical opportunity to tackle the growing amount of child sexual abuse material available online.

“I am committed to holding West Midlands Police to account, to ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice and victims are safeguarded and protected.”

Children's charity NSPCC said online grooming and child sexual abuse was taking place at record levels in the West Midlands and across the country, and it is vital that robust action is taken to reverse the growing levels of harm facing young people.

A NSPCC spokesperson said: “Given the scale of this abuse it is crucial that, as well as police being equipped to tackle perpetrators, tech companies take action to prevent it from happening on their sites in the first place.

"It has become too easy for abusers to take advantage of the design features of social media and messaging platforms to harm children.

"The online safety bill will go a long way in reversing this trend, as it will place a duty on tech companies to develop new tools to disrupt grooming. We want to see these new laws in place as soon as possible.”

Anyone who does not feel comfortable reporting directly to police can also seek support from charities such as Barnardo's, NSPCC, Victim Support and Crimestoppers.

For more advice, visit west-midlands.police.uk/your-options/online-safety-children