April 2012

724 reports of child sex abuse in just one year

SEX assaults on children are reported twice a day to Avon and Somerset police.

Of the 724 total recorded victims last year, more than a third – 249 – had not reached secondary school age and 75 were five and under. However, the majority of offences, 475, were reported against 11 to 17-year-olds.

At 625, the number of girl victims was six times higher than boys, at 99.

The figures were revealed as the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) called for action to drastically reduce the number of sexual assaults on children.

The latest figures revealed there were more than 400 offences reported to police in the UK every week last year, translating to one every 20 minutes or so.

The figures from all 43 police forces in England and Wales cover various sex crimes including rape, incest and abuse of children through prostitution and pornography and reveal that more than one in three of all sex crimes are committed against children.