Copyright dailyrecord
A charity boss yesterday warned that Scotland's children are vulnerable to sexual abuse on a scale "never seen before." Children First Chief Executive Mary Glasgow was responding to shock new police figures which showed that the number of online child abuse cases has more than doubled in the last year. She said that the Scottish Government needed to take urgent action and work with the tech companies to protect kids from further harm. Earlier this week Police Scotland Chief Constable Jo Farrell said the national force received 1,500 reports of online child abuse in 2024-25 compared to 700 in the previous 12 months. Ms Farrell was making the case to Holyrood's Criminal Justice Committee for increased funding in next year's budget to tackle the abuse and other growing crimes Ms Glasgow said:“The warning from the Chief Constable that the number of online child abuse reports to the police has more than doubled in a year must be the wake up call that Scotland needs. "We are sleepwalking into the digital destruction of childhood. Every child in Scotland is vulnerable to exploitation , violence and sexual abuse on a scale that has never been seen before. "The Scottish Government must act now and bring together a new coalition of children’s services, education, child protection, health, justice, the third sector and the tech companies that will fight to protect children and preserve childhood in this digital age.” In her report to Holyrood on Wednesday Ms Farrell said crime generally was becoming more complex, more digital, and more likely to exploit vulnerable victims like children She said each online child abuse report triggered safeguarding work and, where necessary, a criminal investigation. Ms Farrell added:"There is a considerable amount of work goes into identifying where the risk is, who the risks are against, how we safeguard those children, what the investigation then looks like, and then obviously moving into the criminal justice system. "Last year we received just in excess of 700 notifications in relation to suspicions, information, intelligence around online harm relating to children. In one year that has increased to nearly 1,500." Ms Farrell said the force is monitoring 90 serious and organised crime groups, involving 1,000 people in Scotland , including children. She also told MSP's that Scottish crooks are also increasingly international and increasingly involving children. Ms Farrell added:"I want to strengthen our response to digitally enabled and globally connected crime to target sex offenders, organised criminals, and extremists who are radicalising, recruiting, exploiting and abusing our children and bringing illegal drugs and violence to the streets of Scotland." Earlier this week the Daily Record revealed the number of Scots children accused of attempted murder had trebled, deepening concerns about crime gangs exploiting vulnerable youngsters. Almost a quarter of attempted murders between April and June involved an accused under 18, with 17 cases involving 20 children, compared to five cases in the same period in 2024. Yesterday at First Ministers Questions John Swinney said there had to be more regulation of social media companies to prevent online child sex abuse. Swinney also said he was prepared to work with the UK Government, who have responsibility for the communications industry, on tougher action against the child abusers. Mr Swinney added:"I acknowledge the seriousness of the comments made by the Chief Constable. "We will do everything in our powers to address this situation. We will take all the actions we can. "I will be the most trenchant supporter of the toughest measures that the United Kingdom Government will put in place to regulate these individuals and organisations "We will be prepared to work with the UK Government to maximise the effectiveness of those measures. "There is a lawlessness out there online, it is damaging our children and it has got to be arrested."
