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Grooming cases online hit record high in West

Western Daily Press

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November 13, 2025

ONLINE grooming crimes have hit record levels in the South West of England, new data shows.

- IAN LEWIS

Figures provided by the five police forces for the region to the NSPCC, highlight 756 sexual communication with a child offences were recorded last year double the figure recorded when the law came into force in 2017/18. Breaking the numbers down by force area, in Avon and Somerset, the total number of online grooming offences for 2024/25 stands at 300, compared to 229 in 2017/18.

Devon and Cornwall has seen a more than threefold jump from 58 in 2017/18, to 211 in 2024/25.

Dorset had 88 grooming offences recorded in 2024/25, compared to 37 seven and eight years ago. Gloucestershire’s figures leapt from 25 in 2017/18 to 96 in 2024/25, while Wiltshire saw grooming offences double from 28 to 61 in the same period.

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