Police Scotland report 17 per cent rise in indecent child images

credit - Steven Straltan

More than 1,900 offences involving possession of indecent images of children were reported by Police Scotland during the last three years

The total - the highest for any single force in the UK - included a 17 per cent rise in cases last year.

Children’s charity, the NSPCC, which obtained the figures, is calling on internet companies to do more to tackle the problem and for greater education of the dangers.

RELATED CONTENT 

Child abuse images investigation leads to 13 arrests in Scotland

Internet providers must do more to tackle child sexual exploitation, say police

A Freedom of Information request from the charity revealed that in Scotland there were 1,904 indecent images offences reported over the last three years. The total figure for the UK was 21,651

Joanna Barrett, policy and public affairs manager for NSPCC Scotland, said: "These figures clearly show that there is a growing problem of people viewing child abuse material and more needs to be done to tackle the issue.

"We want to see companies who operate online to prioritise this issue by committing significant expertise and resources to preventing the publication and distribution of these images.

"Social network providers and other technology platforms must realise that they are the key enablers of online child sexual abuse and make a serious commitment to tackling it."

The police figures also showed that across the UK, where the age of the suspect was known, 2,031 under-18s were reported to police for indecent images offences.

Police Scotland said it was committed to keeping children safe.

Police Scotland's Operation Latisse earlier this year saw 77 people charged and 30 million indecent images seized.

Detective Chief Superintendent Lesley Boal said: "All children have a right to protection against abuse, exploitation, neglect and violence. The impact of online child sexual abuse can be wide ranging and have a long-lasting and potentially life-changing effect on the child.

"The possession of or sharing of images depicting the sexual assault of children or indecent images of children is not a victimless crime, it is child sexual abuse.

"Police Scotland proactively tackles the many forms of online child sexual abuse, our objective being to identify children who have been the victim of or who are at risk of online sexual abuse and identify perpetrators/predators who pose a risk to children online.

"Our message for perpetrators is very clear, Police Scotland employs the latest technology to investigate online abuse and trace offenders."