Online child sexual abuse not 'priority' of Police Scotland, says damning report

Scotland's national police force is failing to prioritise tackling online child sexual abuse, a damning report has revealed.

A lack of strategy and resources has left police unable to identify the scale, nature and threat to children from online child sexual abuse, while a "traditional focus" on drugs and guns has left the most vulnerable unprotected.

The report, which reveals there were 554 crimes relating to indecent images of children recorded by Police Scotland in 2018-19, with 1961 referrals received for online child abuse last year alone, criticises the force for not being "pro-active" on the issue, and lacking a coherent strategy.

She said while there was a "clear commitment" at senior levels to tackling online child sexual abuse, there was no "overarching strategic response to a growing problem" and the department best placed to respond to online child sexual abuse, Public Protection, had the least resources.

According to the report Police Scotland’s response is "generally reactive, with very little evidence of proactivity" and "vigilante groups, known as Online Child Abuse Activist Groups, are unregulated and untrained, and have been identified correctly as a risk."

Mrs Imery said: “One of the main proactive tactics would be to deploy undercover online specialist officers, however this does not often happen. If Police Scotland had a more robust approach to its proactive capability, the opportunities for Online Child Abuse Activist Groups to operate would reduce."

Her report, which also shows that of the 5600 registered sex offenders in Scotland, 21 per cent have accessed indecent images of children, highlights that online child sexual abuse "rarely features as a priority" when specialist resources are being allocated.

Difficulties in accurate recording of the prevalence of online child sexual abuse were compounded by a lack of dedicated analytical support, she said, as well as the absence of a centralised intelligence assessment capability.

Mrs Imery said there were now ten recommendations for Police Scotland to be monitored against, but that the "scale of the challenge" cannot be met by "law enforcement alone".

She added: “Online child sexual abuse can take many forms but is, first and foremost, child abuse. This review focuses on Police Scotland’s response to online child sexual abuse, however the scale of the challenge is such that it cannot be met by law enforcement alone.

"I believe there should be more consideration of rehabilitation and treatment interventions for some offenders, allowing the police to focus on those who pose the greatest risk to children.”

Responding to the report, Joanna Barrett, policy and public affairs manager for NSPCC Scotland, said that children’s online safety is "one of the biggest challenges facing today’s society".

“Police figures show that recorded sexual crimes are on the rise, with a large proportion of the increase being due to online offences," she said. "So it is vital that Police Scotland prioritises online child sexual abuse and invests sufficient resources to effectively tackle this kind of offending.

“However, law enforcement is only part of the solution – it is imperative that online harm laws are brought in imminently so that tech companies are forced to make their platforms safe, so that children stop being groomed, sexually abused and exposed to harm on their sites on a daily basis.”

However Police Scotland said while it would "carefully consider" the review recommendations, protecting children was a "top priority".


"Cyber-enabled crime is placing an ever-increasing demand on policing in Scotland and elsewhere. We have introduced new processes and re-prioritised our resources to identify and understand its extent and to inform our investigative response and preventative strategies.

"To effectively tackle child sexual abuse we have strengthened our resources particularly in specialist departments in order to meet these increased demands."

He added: "Our officers investigate online sexual abuse on a daily basis and are as vital a part of frontline policing as the officers who patrol our streets.


"We continue to work collaboratively with national and international partners, such as the NCA, to keep pace with an ever-changing and increasingly complex area of policing and to protect children at risk across the country. Our officers require to be equipped both online and in our communities to meet the demands of investigating online child sexual abuse.


“We will carefully consider the recommendations from HMICS and how they support our continued commitment to tackling online child sexual abuse, keeping children safe and building safer online communities.”

Scottish Conservative justice spokesperson Liam Kerr said the report proved that under-funding was hindering Police Scotland. “The threat of online child sex abuse is an emerging and complex challenge for officers to deal with. At the root of all this is funding.

“The report says that the department is under resourced and that comes back to how the SNP chooses to use its budget. The SNP government needs to sit up and listen to reports like this, and rethink how much financial support it gives to our police force.”

However a spokesman for the Scottish Government said the review was "important and timely", and Police Scotland's commitment to "carefully consider" the recommendations was "welcome".

“Our action includes modernising the law to ensure police, prosecutors and the courts have stronger powers to deal with the rise in cyber-enabled crimes, strengthening Scotland’s child protection regime and the multi-agency public protection arrangements in the community.

“The safety of children is paramount and they should be able to access the digital world confidently and fearlessly. There is a duty on every adult to ensure that children are supported and educated to recognise inappropriate behaviour and that they know where to go to report any concerns they may have.”