Overview

• Over half of all child abuse offences reported to police in 2022 involved a perpetrator aged between 10 and 17, with 8,020 sex assaults and 6,813 rapes recorded.
• Police data shows a quadrupling of sexual offences against children, with children now being the biggest perpetrators of sexual abuse against other children.
• Police blame the rise on a combination of mobile phone ownership and the availability of hardcore pornography.
• Police received reports of 14,800 rapes and sexual assaults against children aged 10 to 17 where the suspect was classed as a child, the overwhelming majority being boys.
• Police say it is estimated as few as one in six offences are reported to them.