Almost 100 people in Northants charged with possessing indecent images of children in 2015

The number of people charged with downloading child abuse images has increased ninefold in Northants in the past two years

A Freedom of Information request from the children’s charity showed that in the county, there were a total of 10 indecent images offences recorded in 2013, increasing to 99 in 2015.

Across the UK, the total number of recorded crimes for the possession, distribution and production of indecent images of children rose from 4,530 in 2013 to 10,818 in 2015.

And of the investigations during that time period in which the defendant’s age was recorded, 2,031 were under 18.

The rise has led the NSPCC to call for police to be given greater resources to tackle the growing threat, highlighting the responsibility of the UK’s digital industry in tackling the issue.

Peter Wanless, CEO of the NSPCC said: “These figures clearly show that there is a growing problem of people viewing child abuse material and more needs to be done to tackle the issue.

“We want to see companies who operate online prioritise this issue by committing significant expertise and resources to preventing the publication and distribution of these images.

“Social network providers and other technology platforms must realise that they are the key enablers of online child sexual abuse and make a serious commitment to tackling it.”