Children's online abuse figures revealed (From Daily Echo)

Children in Hampshire victims of online abuse

2:20pm Tuesday 7th February 2012 in News Exclusive By Jenny Makin, Assistant News Editor

Children's online abuse figures revealed

MORE than three children a week in Hampshire are becoming victims of online abuse, the Daily Echo can exclusively reveal.

In the past year 160 cases have been investigated, from young girls being groomed by men posing as teenagers, indecent images being shared and in some cases even sexual assaults on youngsters who have been lured to meet their new online “friends” in real life.

The shocking figures can be revealed today as the county’s police force launches a dedicated campaign to educate children and their parents about how to stay safe online.

The Personal Internet and Cyber Safety (PICS) campaign, being driven by the force Public Protection team, comes as Internet Safety Day is marked across Europe.

During coming months every school pupil in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight will be given a pocket sized card aimed to educate them on how to protect themselves on the Internet in six easy steps.

And in line with the theme of this year’s Internet Safety Day the focus will also move to parents to encourage them to take responsibility and prevent their children falling into the clutches of strangers online.

Detective Inspector John Geden, leading the PICS campaign, said: “The aim is to get parents, guardians and carers to learn how to protect children on the Internet in the same way they would protect their child from a stranger in the park. They need to be aware of what is happening in front of them, when their child is using a laptop or a mobile phone and talking on Internet chat sites.

“This is not something designed to get parents to stop children from using the Internet, but about measures that can be taken to ensure they remain safe while they do. “ Cyber crime involving children is a new and growing area of work for police. Hampshire now have a dedicated Police Online Investigation Team consisting of 14 officers who work solidly to try and intercept and stop such crimes.

One of their most high profile cases surrounded a 13 year-old girl who started chatting online to a man who told her he was aged 19. In fact he was some ten years older. She also lied about her age, claiming she was 16.

Following regular dialogue, she gave him her mobile phone number and personal details including address and then went on to send him provocative images of herself wearing just her bra and knickers.

They ended up meeting in a park, with her 12-year-old sister and sevenyear- old niece in tow, before he seriously sexually assaulted her.

Det Insp Geden said: “It was a set of circumstances that ultimately led to this victim being sexually assaulted.

The amount of communications that take place over the Internet that could lead to such criminal offences is incalculable.”

The PICS campaign will be launched today at a school in Petersfield, north Hampshire, and could be rolled out across the county later this year.

As part of the drive, every child will be issued with the pocket sized guide that also carries a code that can be scanned on a mobile phone which will take parents and children direct to information and guidance from Hampshire police on the Internet.

ONE of the latest crazes being tackled by police through the education of children is “sexting”.

In the same way as texting, young people are choosing to get intimate and know more about each others’ bodies by sending risque and sometimes sexual pictures to each other.

Det Insp Geden said: “We have seen quite an explosion in sexting and we want young people to understand and think about these images and what will happen when your boyfriend or girlfriend dumps you. Where do they end up?

“People need to be aware that once you press ‘send’ they have no control over what happens next. There is no difference between sending such intimate pictures by phone or putting them on a school notice board – once you send them, they are out there for life.”