A new report has found that inadequate police response to online child sexual abuse and exploitation often leaves vulnerable children at risk and allows offenders to escape justice.

Police can take up to 18 months to make an arrest after becoming aware that a child is at risk of online sexual abuse, according to the report from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS).

The report found that forces are often not properly responding to allegations or concerns about suspects, leading to ‘unacceptable delays and missed opportunities’.

Many forces were found to wait too long before sharing information with local authorities, leading to missed opportunities to refer children and families for support.

HMICFRS said that while offences were increasing at a rapid rate, forces were unable to keep up and chief constables are not doing enough to properly understand the scale of the problem.

The inspectorate concluded that much more needs to be done to ensure a consistent national approach – including tighter controls on the internet.

Many officers ‘don’t always follow lines of inquiry to find out who the suspect is and whether they are approaching children’, it added.

In most forces, cases reported directly to police are dealt with by non-specialists with inadequate training who are unaware of guidance they should follow and what specialist services they should refer children to.

Very high-risk cases are often dealt with within a day but those deemed high, medium or low risk are often not responded to in the recommended timescales of a week, two weeks and 30 days.

In one case, officers did nothing for 18 months following a report from the National Crime Agency of two videos showing a nine-year-old girl being raped.

In the same force, more than 30 suspects had their risk incorrectly rated as low because of inadequate training.

The report highlighted another ‘very high-risk’ case where no assessment was carried out for four days after officers discovered that a suspect was living with his 15-year-old sister. He was later bailed to the same address.

Officers accepted that they often do not share information when they first become aware of a risk to a child because they believe a social worker might want to visit first.

The report said doing so ‘doesn’t take account of the force’s obligations’ or ‘risks to children.’

While the number of ‘image-related case’ being referred to police by the National Crime Agency doubled between 2017 and 2021, chief constables ‘are not doing enough’ to get to grips with the scale of the problem, HMICFRS found.

Some forces urge officers to tell children to reset their phone to factory settings, which can lead to evidence being lost.

The inspectorate also found that some forces have ‘drawn up their own criteria’ for which cases to pursue based on resources rather than risk.

The report is banking on the Online Safety Bill to ‘significantly reduce’ the amount of child sex abuse material online.

‘There is a lack of minimum investigative standards or training, and this means some forces aren’t responding quickly or sufficiently to allegations of abuse,’ said His Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary Wendy Williams.

‘Forces do not fully understand the scale of the problem, so there aren’t enough resources dedicated to these investigations.

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said the report demonstrated ‘the total failure by the Conservative Government to make sure vulnerable children are protected from abuse’.

‘It’s clear the hard work of individual officers is being undermined by a lack of any proper support or strategy from the government,’ said the Labour frontbencher.

‘This hands-off Home Office approach is totally failing victims of this hideous crime.’

‘It’s vital we tackle these growing levels of harm to children online and today’s report highlights the crucial role that policing can play,’ said Anna Edmundson, head of policy at the NSPCC.

‘Given the scale of this abuse, as well as equipping police to tackle perpetrators, it is crucial that tech companies also take action to prevent abuse from happening on their sites in the first place.’

In response, the NSPCC is calling on the government to strengthen the Victims and Prisoners Bill so it prioritises specialist support for child victims of abuse.

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