It seems that the UK’s young’uns are a lot more influenced by what they find online than previously thought.

Since 2013, police have received almost 30 000 reports of children committing sexual offences, with 2 625 (including 225 alleged rapes) “carried out by under-18s on other children on school premises, including primary school playgrounds,” reports The Telegraph.

And experts have blamed the rise in the availability of online pornography.

The data was released by 38 of England and Wales’ 43 police forces in a response to freedom of information requests. The information obtained also showed that “peer on peer” abuse rose from 4 603 in 2013 to 7 866 last year:

Figures from 30 forces show reports of sexual offences by children aged 10 and under have more than doubled from 204 in 2013-14 to 456 in 2016-17.

Almost three-quarters of child sex cases (74%) reported to 36 forces between April 1 2013 and May 31 2017 resulted in no further action, according to the figures obtained by BBC’s Panorama.

Remaining anonymous while being interviewed by the current affairs programme, some abused children explained “how they felt bullied, let down and isolated after reporting abuse”:

“It’s not what actually happens that has the worst effect on you, it’s what comes after it. It’s the being disbelieved – it’s the people failing you,” said one.

Another said: “We’d be on the bus, they’d throw things at me or shout things and make comments. It’s not always even him, it’s his friends.”

One victim said: “There was no talk about the police or telling his parents or taking it further, it was only really, ‘oh block him’, or ‘stay away from him in lesson’.”

Another child’s parents said: “I couldn’t actually believe that we’re in the 21st century in Great Britain and we are allowing sexual abuse to continue… and for victims to go unsupported.”

The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) explained that a “third of all child sexual offences are committed by children” and that figures released earlier this year showed that “children as young as four have been interviewed by police on suspicion of rape, sexual assault and accessing porn”.

Now, to stop child offenders from becoming adult abusers, it’s imperative they receive the right mental and emotional support. But while government guidance tells teachers they have a legal duty to report allegations of sexual assaults on children by adults, there is no such duty when a child is accused of sexual assault.

Although hundreds of pupils had been excluded from school in the past four years after being involved in sexual acts, including watching and sharing porn, it seems that the route of expulsion isn’t helping the situation.

[source:thetelegraph]