More than 600 Greater Manchester under-18s have been accused of sexually abusing other children since 2012 – and easy access to internet pornography is blamed as a key factor.
Greater Manchester Police released the information following a Freedom of Information request from the NSPCC.
The figures show there were more than 8,000 cases of young people allegedly abusing children across the UK since 2012.
However the actual number of cases could be even higher as not all police forces in England and Wales were able to provide useful data when responding to the Freedom of Information request with 38 out of 43 giving useable information.
Bernadette Oxley, regional head of service for the NSPCC in the North West, said: “It is deeply concerning that such a lot of children are committing sexual offences including serious assaults and rape.
“Degrading and often violent videos on the internet are warping young people’s views of what is normal or acceptable behaviour.
“It is also feeding into ‘sexting’ where teenagers are creating and distributing their own videos and images that are illegal and have led to prison sentences.”
According to the statistics the most common offence involved young males allegedly abusing female acquaintances.
And while most alleged offenders were male there were a small proportion of female abusers as well as both male and female victims.
The NSPCC service in Manchester is now warning the public of the dangers of harmful sexual behaviour in children and is working hard to support the victims of abuse.
NSPCC service Turn the Page works with young offenders using a combination of therapeutic approaches to help the young person focus on their strengths which in turn better equips them to form positive relationships.
More than 60% of contact sexual abuse on children is committed by other young people.
But while these crimes are deeply concerning, the NSPCC believe that this type of behaviour can be turned around if caught early.
Ms Oxley said: “For very young children, such as those of primary school age or younger, we have to explore and understand the environment in which they are growing up in that has led to them behaving in this way.
“Prevention has to be the key and that is recognising warning signs early and taking swift action.
“It could be that they have seen sexual activity that they are just too young to understand and are copying what they’ve seen.
“But these children are not beyond help. If we act quickly and children receive support such as that provided by the NSPCC’s Turn the Page service we can stop them becoming adult sex offenders.
“And, most importantly, their victims need support to overcome what has happened to them.
“Sexual offences, whether committed by another child or an adult, can have lifelong consequences.”
Picture courtesy of Dan Strange2, with thanks
