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NCA issues urgent warning about ‘sextortion

Written by Jennifer Miller on . Posted in ISS News

The National Crime Agency has issued an alert to hundreds of thousands of education professionals following a considerable increase in global cases of financially motivated sexual extortion – a type of online blackmail widely known as ‘sextortion’.

Sextortion involves people being forced into paying money or meeting another financial demand, after an offender has threatened to release nude or semi-nude photos of them. This could be a real photo taken by the victim, or a fake image created of them by the offender.

Specialists from the NCA’s CEOP Education team have produced the alert, which was issued to teachers across the UK today (Monday 29 April).

It gives advice about spotting the signs of this type of abuse, supporting young people and encouraging them to seek help. It also includes guidance to be disseminated to parents and carers on how to talk to their child about sextortion, and how to support them if they become a victim – aiming to take away the stigma surrounding the topic and, in turn, power away from those who wish to harm them.

The unprecedented warning comes after the number of global sextortion cases reported to the US National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) more than doubled in 2023, rising to 26,718 compared to 10,731 the year before.

All age groups and genders are being targeted, but a large proportion of cases have involved male victims aged between 14-18. Ninety one per cent of victims in UK sextortion cases dealt with by the Internet Watch Foundation in 2023 were male.

These crimes can be perpetrated by organised crime groups based overseas, predominantly in some West African countries, but some are also known to be located in South East Asia.

They are motivated by making money quickly, rather than by sexual gratification, and in some cases have gone from initial contact to blackmailing their victim in under an hour.

Child victims have reported being:

  • contacted by an online account that they do not know but appears to be another child or young person. They may also be contacted by a hacked account of a child or young person they do know, but the communication feels unfamiliar;
  • quickly engaged in sexually explicit communications, which may include the offender sharing an indecent image first;
  • manipulated or pressured into taking nude or semi-nude photos or videos;
  • told they have been hacked and the offender has access to their images, personal information and contacts (whether this is true or not);
  • blackmailed into sending money or meeting another financial demand (such as purchasing a pre-paid gift card) after sharing an image or video, or the offender sharing hacked or digitally manipulated/AI-generated images of their victim and making the threat of sharing them wider.

James Babbage, Director General for Threats at the National Crime Agency, said:

“Sextortion is a callous crime. Perpetrators have no concern for victims or the lives that might be destroyed in the process. Their sole motivation is financial gain.

“We are asking education professionals to help us raise awareness about this crime type, which is sadly increasing across the world. This alert is designed to guide them in supporting young people who may be targeted.

“Sextortion causes immeasurable stress and anguish, and we know there are adults and young people who have devastatingly taken their own lives as a result.

“A lot of victims feel responsible but we need them to know this is absolutely not the case; you are not to blame and help and support is available. As well as raising awareness with this alert, we want to encourage young people to report incidents to an adult they trust, the police or to the CEOP Safety Centre.”

Advice to parents and carers if their child says that someone is trying to trick, threaten or blackmail them online:

  • Don’t pay, do stop contact and block: you may be tempted to pay, but there is no guarantee that this will stop the threats. As the offender’s motive is to get money, once you have shown you can pay, they will likely ask for more and blackmail may continue. If you have paid, don’t panic but don’t pay anything more. Help your child to stop all communication with the offender and block them on any accounts that they have been contacted on.
  • Avoid deleting anything: try not to delete anything that could be used as evidence such as messages, images, telephone numbers, and bank account details.
  • Report to the police or CEOP: call 101 or 999 if there is an immediate risk of harm to your child. Or you can use the CEOP Safety Centre to report any online blackmail attempts.

Adults can also support young people in getting their images removed using Childline and the Internet Watch Foundation’s Report Remove tool, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s Take It Down tool, and reporting to the platform or app it has been shared on. Further information for parents and carers on how they can support their child can be found in the CEOP Education’s online blackmail article.

Tom Tugendhat, Security Minister, said:

“Sextortion destroys lives. It is often driven by highly sophisticated organised crime groups who exploit vulnerable people for profit.

“It’s vital that technology companies take responsibility for the safety of their users by implementing stronger safeguards on their platforms.

“I would urge parents to talk to their children about their use of social media. Even sites that many assume to be safe may pose a risk.”

Susie Hargreaves OBE, Chief Executive of the IWF, said:

“Sextortion has become a major threat online in the last few years. This alert to schools is an absolutely crucial intervention in stemming this epidemic which has already ruined so many young lives. These criminals are cold-blooded, and do not even care when the shame and fear they inflict drives some children to take their own lives.

“We want children to know, however, they are not alone, no matter how lonely if feels, that there is a remedy, and a way to take control and fight back. The Report Remove tool we run with Childline is revolutionary and allows you to stop sexual imagery being shared or from going viral online. Please, if you are being targeted this way, reach out. It is not a hopeless situation, and we are here to help you.”

Richard Collard, Associate Head of Child Safety Online Policy at the NSPCC, said:

“Children who contact Childline because they are victims of ‘sextortion’ are often extremely distressed and don’t see a way out of their situation.

“When they experience this crime, they can often feel too scared or ashamed to make a report. It is important children know what has happened is never their fault, and we’d encourage any young person to speak to a trusted adult so they can get help and support.

“Children must be supported to spot signs of abuse, but the burden should not be on them to protect themselves from harm online. Tech companies must step up and actively tackle the threat of sexual extortion on their platforms by putting safeguards in place and identifying dangerous behaviour.”

Please see the full publised article here

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Shattered lives, stolen futures: The Jay Review of Criminally Exploited Children

Written on . Posted in ISS News

Shattered lives, stolen futures: The Jay Review of Criminally Exploited Children

Tens of thousands of children and

young people are at risk of being exploited across the UK – groomed, coerced and threatened into a life of violence, criminalisation and abuse. A new approach is needed to end this crisis.

Launching the Jay Review

In response to this crisis, Action for Children launched the Jay Review of Criminally Exploited Children in November 2023. Our aim was to learn from what’s working well to protect children from exploitation and determine what more can be done.

“I slept with one eye and one ear open for years and years.”

Vicky, parent

The Review was chaired by Professor Alexis Jay CBE, chair of the Centre for Excellence for Children’s Care and Protection and former chair of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse. Professor Jay was supported by Simon Bailey CBE QPM, the former Chief Constable of Norfolk Constabulary and a member of the Child Safeguarding Practice Review Panel from 2021-2024, and Charles Geekie KC, a barrister specialising in areas of the law relating to children and a Trustee of Action for Children.

The Review heard 25 hours of evidence from witnesses in person and via video footage and received 100,000 words of evidence in total

Evidence was given by 70 organisations or individuals, including young people, parents and mentors with lived experience of exploitation. A wide range of practitioners and senior leaders have contributed – from children’s services, education, local government, charities, inspectorates, academia and the police and youth justice systems across the UK, including the Children’s Commissioners from all four nations.

What we learned

The facts of criminal exploitation paint a stark picture: thousands of children and young people across the country are controlled and manipulated by criminal gangs, while countless more are at risk. The toll on these young lives is immeasurable, leading to serious physical harm, long-term trauma and criminalisation. Children are paying with their freedom, their childhoods and their lives.

Key lessons

As we listened to those with lived experience, to professionals and to experts from across the four nations of the UK, a number of key lessons stood out:

  • The absence of a clear and consistent definition of the criminal exploitation of children is a barrier to protecting and supporting them.
  • Existing legislation and criminal processes are not fit for purpose and are leading to vulnerable children being failed.
  • Too many exploited children are treated as criminals rather than victims and do not receive a child protection response.
  • The lack of data on exploitation makes it more difficult to identify, prevent and respond to it.
  • School is an essential protective factor in children’s lives but education providers do not always have the right tools to identify and support children at risk.
  • Local safeguarding arrangements are not always effective in supporting children at risk of extra-familial harm (or harm outside their family home), including exploitation.
  • Early intervention is essential to prevent and disrupt exploitation but a decade of funding cuts in early intervention services has restricted the ability of services to respond.
  • Serious, preventable harm to children is being caused by a lack of national leadership. There is no consistent strategy, leadership and focus from central government on tackling criminal exploitation as an urgent and preventable crisis.

In 2023, 7,432 referrals relating to children were made to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM), the framework for identifying and referring potential victims of modern slavery and criminal exploitation, an increase of 45% since 2021.

Our recommendations

We recommend that the four nations of the UK work together to create a new approach designed with the explicit purpose of tackling the criminal exploitation of children. This should be built on three pillars:

  • A single, cohesive legal code designed to tackle the criminal exploitation of children. The criminal exploitation of children should be given a statutory definition within UK law with a consultation held with young people and families to develop corresponding guidance. Specific legislation should be drawn up for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland covering child abuse through exploitation and create a new criminal offence. And new powers should be given to the police and criminal justice system to identify and sanction exploiters.
  • Coordinated policy and practice at a local and national level. The UK government should take the lead in developing a national strategy for preventing the criminal exploitation of children. Exploitation must be recognised as a distinct category of child protection in all four nations with a new pathway for protecting children from risk outside the home and local safeguarding arrangements must be robust and well-funded. A welfare-first approach should be taken in the management of offences committed by exploited young people.
  • Investment, research and whole-system learning. Investment and funding for early intervention and prevention services for exploited young people must be specific, increased and ring-fenced. Data and information collection must be standardised to allow for identification of young people at risk and disruption of perpetrators, with a new cross-border protocol for sharing data between the four nations.

“Do I want to lose my freedom or do I want to be dead? I don't want none of that. I want to be alive. I want to be living. I want to have a family.”

Danny, young person with experience of exploitation

Read the exective summary here

Read the review report in full here

With thanks Action for Children https://www.actionforchildren.org.uk

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Government has responded to the Mandatory Reporting Consultation

Written by Jen Miller on . Posted in ISS News

The mandatory reporting duty will, first and foremost, be a safeguarding measure.

It will ensure that the words of children and young people who are seeking help are heard. It sets high standards of conduct and provides reporters with clear instructions on how to act when they are made aware of child sexual abuse. A report made under the duty is simply that – sharing information with the appropriate agencies, who can consider it further and take appropriate action to safeguard and support the child involved where necessary.

We have not attached criminal penalties to the failures under the reporting duty, considering referrals to the Disclosure and Barring Service (and professional regulators where applicable) to be a more appropriate outcome. However, the reporting duty itself is accompanied by tough, punitive measures for anyone who seeks to cover up abuse.

An individual who seeks to obstruct a reporter from carrying out their duty to report will face the prospect of up to seven years imprisonment. As we implement the introduction of the duty, we will continue to deliver the work outlined in the Government’s Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Strategy; ensuring professionals working with children have the skills and information they need to recognise and respond appropriately to all forms of child sexual abuse.

Please see the full publised document here

 

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Youth Warnings, Reprimands and Cautions no Longer Automatically Disclosed to Employers

Written by Jen Miller on . Posted in ISS News

Youth warnings, reprimands and cautions will no longer be automatically disclosed to employers who require Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) certificates from 28 November.

The changes, which come as a result of a Supreme Court judgment that found some elements of the existing filtering rules for Standard and Enhanced DBS checks were disproportionate, are intended to make it easier for people with certain convictions to find employment.

The multiple conviction rule will also be removed, meaning that if an individual has more than one conviction, regardless of offence type or time passed, each conviction will be considered against the remaining rules individually, rather than all being automatically disclosed on the certificate.

Christopher Stacey, co-director of Unlock – a group that campaigns for people with convictions – welcomed the changes, but said they did not go far enough to improve access to work for some people with childhood convictions. 

“The changes coming in on 28 November are a crucial first step towards achieving a fair system that takes a more balanced approach towards disclosing criminal records,” he said. “However, we are still left with a criminal records system where many people with old and minor criminal records are shut out of jobs that they are qualified to do.

“We found that over a five-year period, 380,000 checks contained childhood convictions, with 2,795 checks including convictions from children aged just ten. Many of these childhood convictions will continue to be disclosed despite these changes.

“Reviews by the Law Commission, Justice Select Committee, former Chair of the Youth Justice Board Charlie Taylor and David Lammy MP have all stressed the need to look at the wider disclosure system. The government’s plan for jobs should include a wider review of the criminal records disclosure system to ensure all law-abiding people with criminal records are able to move on into employment and contribute to our economic recovery.”

New DBS guidance advises organisations to update their recruitment processes in light of the changes and check the Ministry of Justice website for which convictions or cautions should be disclosed by job candidates.

It suggests that employers ask job candidates: “Do you have any convictions or cautions (excluding youth cautions, reprimands or warnings) that are not ‘protected’ as defined by the Ministry of Justice?”

It also urged employers to include the following paragraph in their standard job application forms: “The amendments to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (2013 and 2020) provides that when applying for certain jobs and activities, certain convictions and cautions are considered ‘protected’. This means that they do not need to be disclosed to employers, and if they are disclosed, employers cannot take them into account.”

The guidance says: “Employers can only ask an individual to provide details of convictions and cautions that they are legally entitled to know about.

“If an employer takes into account a conviction or caution that would not have been disclosed, they are acting unlawfully under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.

“Employers should conduct a case-by-case analysis of any convictions and cautions disclosed and consider how, if at all, they are relevant to the position sought. It would be advisable for the employer to keep records of the reasons for any employment decision (and in particular rejections), including whether any convictions or cautions were taken into account and, if so, why.”

Cedit: Ashley Webber - Personnel Today

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Forty children as young as 14 recruited to deal drugs inside school

Written by Jennifer Miller on . Posted in ISS News

A county lines drug gang forced 40 children to deal cannabis and cocaine at a single school.

The teens, some as young as 14, had been supplied with drugs and dealing kits including deal bags and scales. 

Police say grown-up dealers had a network of 40 pupils dealing at the school which has just over 1,200 pupils - meaning one in thirty was possibly selling drugs.

It is suspected that girls as young as 14 at Kingsdown School in Swindon, Wiltshire, have been pestered for sex in exchange for cocaine.

And the dawn police raid yesterday - on the eve of GCSE results - revealed the extent of the teens coerced into the operation.

Wiltshire Police arrested a 27-year-old man during the raid. He has since been released under investigation.

Sgt Nathan Perry, who planned the 7am raid, said: "We found the person we're looking for, we've managed to safeguard the children who were at risk and we've found drugs.

"We all know about county lines and the risks associated with that.

"The difficulty with this type of drugs operation is that it's specifically targeting very young children in order to get them to deal drugs.

"Some of the information we've been passed is that children are not only being coerced into this activity, but they're also being physically threatened.

"If they go to police or teachers they'll be harmed," he added. 

Police were said to have been alerted to the gang at Kingsdown School.

A pair of older teen boys, both 16, are believed to have been supplying a network of up to 40 children in their mid-teens at the Swindon school.

The 27-year-old was arrested during the morning raid on suspicion of possession of class B drugs with intent to supply and inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

The raid came as Swindon police focused their sights on modern slavery.

Nationally, police have increasingly turned to modern slavery laws to target drug dealers who force children and vulnerable adults to peddle their product.

Sgt Perry said those convicted could expect sentences of up to 15 years imprisonment.

"You've got children being exploited and young kids being forced to run the drugs. We will take it seriously," he said.

"The sheer nature of the exploitation of these young people is unacceptable.

"If we don't do something to stop that they're potentially going to be at risk for the rest of their lives.

 
"They need that positive engagement and we're not going to be able to do that until we remove their handlers, for want of a better word."
 
If children start becoming more withdrawn, secretive about their possessions and start acquiring cash and expensive clothes without explanation, it could be a sign they are being exploited by the gangs.
 
Article reported by Tom Seaward for the Mirror.

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