Lancashire Police urge paedophiles to seek confidential help from charity to prevent child abuse

Viewing and sharing indecent images of children online is a growing problem across the North West with nearly 25,000 offences reported in the region last year – an increase of 37% since 2021.

Around 1,500 of these offences were reported in Lancashire where police have been working extensively to detect and prosecute people downloading and sharing images of child abuse online.

1,500 people in Lancashire seek help to stop viewing child abuse

It has been revealed that in Lancashire alone – between 2021 and 2022 – around 1,500 people sought support from Stop it Now! – a charity providing support to paedophiles to help them address their behaviour and stop them offending.

Lancashire Police has joined other forces in the UK in supporting a campaign led by The Lucy Faithfull Foundation which aims to prevent people from viewing child abuse images in the first place and to get them to stop if they have already started.

The Foundation is a UK child protection charity which offers a confidential and anonymous helpline to those “worried about their own thoughts, feelings and behaviour”.

The Stop It Now! campaign has been running since 2015 with the support of the Home Office, police forces, local authorities and others to raise awareness of the consequences of offending and the confidential support available.

Detective Inspector Rachael Ashcroft is part of a specialist team of Lancashire Police detectives and staff who work around the clock to keep the county's children safe.

The force is supporting a new campaign led by The Lucy Faithfull Foundation

DI Ashcroft said: “Every day in Lancashire, we deal with individuals who commit these types of offences from all walks of life.

"If we can, we need to prevent these types of offences from occurring in the first place and safeguard future victims.

"Within Lancashire alone, between 2021 and 2022, 1,500 people sought support from Stop it Now!

“Our message to anyone worried about their own or a loved one's online behaviour is to seek support from the Stop It Now! Helpline as soon as possible.

"Their helpline is confidential and anonymous but it could be instrumental in helping to prevent serious crimes from taking place with unimaginable consequences for both you, your family or anyone else involved.”

"Online grooming and the exploitation of children are abhorrent crimes,” added Lancashire Police and Crime Commissioner Andrew Snowden.

“I will continue to support digital innovations that give the police more ways to target those people taking part in online grooming and child abuse, to bring them to justice.

"Ensuring that victims can access help and support is also really important.

"The Chief Constable is delivering my Fighting Crime Plan to detect and prevent these crimes.

"We take every opportunity to work with regional and national partners to strengthen the response here in Lancashire, with campaigns like this supporting the work we do to relentlessly target offenders.”

The Lucy Faithfull foundation provides support if:

- you’re worried about your own thoughts or behaviour

- you’re worried about another adult’s behaviour

- you’re worried about a child or young person’s behaviour

- you want information on how to keep children safe offline and online

You can visit the Lucy Faithfull website for advice and information and the anonymous Stop It Now! website here.