Urgent action needed over child abuse images (From South Wales Guardian)

Urgent action needed over child abuse images

12:00am Monday 22nd October 2012 in News

THE NSPCC is calling for urgent action to stamp out the illegal trade in child abuse images after figures revealed more than 630,000 have been confiscated by Dyfed-Powys Police in the last two years.

They say the figures are in stark contrast to 1990 – before the internet became hugely popular - when theHomeOffice estimated there were just 7,000 hard copy images in circulation across the UK.Now, at least five times that amount is being confiscated every day.

The Freedom of Information request also reveals that 49 people were arrested last year by Dyfed-Powys Police for taking, possessing or distributing indecent images of children. Since 1995 the number of people convicted in England and Wales has risen more than 1,700 per cent from 85 to 1,495 (2011).

The pictures are graded from level one – the lowest – to category five, which involves sadism.

NSPCC national head of service for Wales, Des Mannion said: “The number of these dreadful images is absolutely appalling. The truly awful thing is that more and more children are being abused so these pictures can be produced and once in circulation they may stay there for many years.

“If we can halt this vile trade we will be saving countless children fromsuffering sexual assaults which have a huge impact on their lives.

“The authorities are working hard to clampdownon this but there are still far too many pictures available. It’s time the government and industry got together to find an answer to this corrosive problem.”