The worry trend 'linked to rise in sexual crime by children' every parent needs to know about

Greater Manchester Police recorded the third-highest number of child sex offences in the country in 2022 as the number of cases reported nationally saw a sharp rise, a new report has revealed.

Half of child abuse offences reported to police in England and Wales in 2022 involved a child aged 10 to 17 as a suspect or perpetrator, up from a third in 2013, in what police called 'a growing and concerning trend'.

The rise has been partly fuelled by violent pornography and access to smartphones, a police chief has warned. It comes as a leading anti-abuse charity said predators are taking advantage of access to children granted by the internet on a 'monumental, industrial scale'.

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A landmark report published on Wednesday showed that the most common offences committed by 10 to 17-year-olds were sexual assault on a female (15 per cent), rape of a female under 16 (12pc), and taking, making or sharing indecent images.

Ian Critchley, national policing lead for child abuse protection and investigation, said: “This is predominantly a gender-based crime of boys committing offences against girls.

“I think that is being exacerbated by the accessibility to violent pornography and the ease in which violent pornography is accessible to boys and therefore, a perception that is normalised behaviour and therefore that person can carry out that behaviour that they are seeing online in the most violent way against other peers as well.

“Clearly the accessibility to smartphones has just rocketed not just in relation to 11 to 16-year-olds, but in relation to under-10s as well, that accessibility has really exacerbated that and I think this is a debate that