Children and teenagers as young as 12 in North Wales are being groomed online, chilling figures have revealed.
In the past three years, a dozen incidents of internet grooming have been recorded by North Wales Police – with social media site Facebook acting as the main form of contact for predators.
A Freedom of Information request by the Daily Post shows 11 girls and one boy aged between 12 and 15 were targeted online since 2013.
Six of those cases were investigated by North Wales Police in 2013, with five in 2014 and one in 2015.
In April 2013, a person was arrested and charged after using Facebook to meet up with a 15-year-old girl from Prestatyn.
The same month, an adult attempted to meet a 13-year-old girl in Caernarfon after talking to her via WhatsApp and text. They were also arrested and later charged.
A third incident in April 2013 saw a person meet with a girl aged 15 in Denbigh , again after grooming her on Facebook. They too were arrested and charged by police.
In August that year, a known offender was charged after they made contact via Facebook and met with a girl under 16 in Holyhead .
Two more people were arrested in the months following after similar incidents in Menai Bridge and Wrexham – one involving a 14-year-old boy.
An adult was cautioned in March 2014 after attempting to meet up with a girl aged 13 in Caernarfon.
Two incidents in Holywell in August that year saw 15-year-old girls meet up with strangers after the offenders created Facebook accounts for themselves and two teenagers. They were arrested but there were no charges due to “evidential difficulties”.
The final incident happened in September this year. Police were called after a 13-year-old girl from Bagillt was discovered to be talking to an unknown male on Facebook. One person was arrested but not charged.
Des Mannion, national head of service for the NSPCC in Wales, said: “Keeping children safe online is undoubtedly the biggest child protection challenge of our generation and we need to continue to challenge and work with internet companies and UK Governments to make the internet a safer place for children.
see- http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/online-groomers-targeting-north-wales-10521155
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