Shock figures reveal the number of child sexual abuse image crimes logged by police
Shocking figures have revealed the number of child sexual abuse image crimes logged by Midland police forces in the past year.
The figures revealed the number of indecent images of children crimes recorded by West Midlands, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and West Mercia Police.
A total of 3,801 child sexual abuse image crimes were logged across the four forces, the NSPCC said.
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Broken down by force, there were 1,822 such reported crimes in the West Midlands, 954 in West Mercia, 522 in Warwickshire and 503 in Staffordshire.
The figures were recorded by the Home Office and shared by the NSPCC as it campaigns for better protection for children using private messaging platforms.
The figures covered reported crimes from 2023 to 2024.
A separate Freedom of Information request submitted by the NSPCC to police forces across the UK showed that, of the offences last year where law enforcement recorded the platform used by perpetrators, 50 per cent took place on Snapchat and a quarter on Meta products – 11 per cent on Instagram, seven per cent on Facebook and six per cent on WhatsApp.
The NSPCC called for strong safeguards to be put in place to protect children using online messaging platforms.
A joint letter from charities, including the NSPCC, Marie Collins Foundation, Lucy Faithfull Foundation, Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse, and Barnardo’s, has been sent to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and Secretary of State for Science, Innovation, and Technology Peter Kyle.
The NSPCC is also calling for private messaging services, including those using end-to-end encryption, to ensure there are robust safeguards in place to ensure the platforms do not act as a ‘safe haven’ for predators.
The charity reported that last year, Childline delivered 903 counselling sessions to children and young people relating to blackmail or threats to expose or share sexual images online.
Chris Sherwood, NSPCC chief executive, said: “It is deeply alarming to see thousands of child sexual abuse image crimes continue to be recorded by police in the West Midlands.
“These offences cause tremendous harm and distress to children, with much of this illegal material being repeatedly shared and viewed online.
“It is an outrage that in 2025 we are still seeing a blatant disregard from tech companies to prevent this illegal content from proliferating on their sites.
“Having separate rules for private messaging services lets tech bosses off the hook from putting robust protections for children in place.
“This enables crimes to continue to flourish on their platforms even though we now have the Online Safety Act.
“The Government must set out how they will take a bold stand against abuse on private messaging services and hold tech companies accountable for keeping children safe, even if it requires changes to the platform’s design – there can be no excuse for inaction or delay. “