Police officers posing online as children have helped to snare hundreds of paedophiles in the past year.
Child sex offenders using the supposed anonymity of the internet to lure children have been warned that they will be caught, with police revealing that the work of covert officers has led to more than 1,300 arrests in the UK.
Recent convictions secured in Norfolk thanks in part to undercover online investigations include Paul Weekley who was caught following online sex chats with a girl he believed to be a 12-year-old called Becca that was actually an officer.
The “very high risk" paedophile, from Great Yarmouth, was jailed after admitting offences including attempting to incite a child to engage in sexual activity.
Shaun Edwards, from Hunstanton, was also jailed after he was arrested following communication with an undercover police officer posing as someone with an interest in indecent images of children who had a 10-year-old daughter.
Nationally between April 2021 and March 2022, police working online to catch abusers made 1,362 arrests, safeguarded 1,400 children, and secured jail sentences totalling more than 1,130 years.
Offenders ranged from those who had viewed or shared indecent images online to those who had encouraged children to send them indecent images online, as well as those who groomed children via online sites and then arranged to meet them so that they could sexually abuse them.
National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for online child sexual exploitation, Assistant Chief Constable Dan Vajzovic, said: “Many of the offenders we catch online attempt to justify their actions as less harmful than in ‘real life’.
“This is simply not the case, as we see time and again offenders who are moving between online and real world offending.
“All child abuse is illegal, causes serious harm to real victims, and will have severe consequences for you as an offender.
“We have officers working around the clock across all areas of the internet to catch those who are seeking to use it as a gateway to abuse children.”
• Anyone with concerns that someone is being abused on the internet, or is using the internet to abuse children, should report them immediately to police on 101.
• Visit stopitnow.org.uk for further advice, including if you are concerned for children or young people.
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