Police recorded 9,290 accusations of sexual offences last year where perpetrator and victim were under 18, says Barnardo’s

Allegations of children committing sexual offences against other children have risen 78% in England and Wales in four years, prompting renewed calls for compulsory education on sexual consent and healthy relationships.

Police recorded 9,290 accusations of sexual offences where both the alleged perpetrator and victim were under 18 in 2016, compared with 5,215 in 2013, an investigation by Barnardo’s, the children’s charity, found.

The figures, revealed by freedom of information requests, show the number of reported cases more than doubled in 12 force areas over the period, including rises of 521% in Warwickshire, 371% in Norfolk and 345% in Lincolnshire.

Barnardo’s chief executive, Javed Khan, said the charity was “deeply concerned [that] more children may be sexually harming other children”. However, Simon Bailey, child protection lead at the National Police Chiefs Council, suggested increases could be down to more awareness of unacceptable sexual behaviour and “greater victim confidence” in approaching police.

Researchers asked police forces across England and Wales to provide data for the last four years – 2013 to 2016 – on the number of recorded sexual offences where both the offender and the victim were under the age of 18.

Over the four-year period covered by the disclosure, there were 32,452 reports of alleged child-on-child sexual offences, or an average of 22 a day. Barnardo’s points out that the true number could be higher since seven of of the 43 forces in England and Wales either did not respond or provided only a partial response.

Barnardo’s has warned that child-on-child sexual abuse has the potential to become the UK’s next major child protection issue. It calls for a national inquiry to examine the issue and a national strategy, including compulsory sex education, to deal with it. “These results are another wakeup call to the extent of the problem,” Khan said.

However, no information was provided by the charity on the nature of the alleged offences, which could range from rape to sexting, nor on how many were brought to trial or led to convictions.

There are suggestions that online communication has driven the rise in the number of recorded offences. A youngster telling another in the playground to reveal intimate parts of his or her body may not be classed as a sexual offence, yet if the same demand was made via text message it could be evidence of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, a Barnardo’s spokesman said.

Myles Jackman, a lawyer who specialises in obscenity cases, has previously pointed out that a discrepancy in the laws regarding sexual consent and child pornography means that youngsters legally old enough to have sex could be prosecuted for taking erotic pictures of themselves and sending them to their partners, who could also be prosecuted for possessing them.

However, it is understood that in many cases alleged perpetrators are dealt with informally – an approach supported by Barnardo’s. “When dealing with harmful sexual behaviour, young offenders should be treated as children first and offenders second,” the charity’s spokesman said.

The findings are the latest in a line of reports warning of increased incidence of harmful sexual behaviour among young people, which politicians have cited as justification for increased age controls on and censorship of pornographic websites.



The search for solutions has had mixed results. Jeremy Hunt, the health secretary, was ridiculed last November when he suggested that social media companies ought to write software that would prevent youngsters from sending each other sexually pornographic pictures.

However, the government has thus far resisted calls from children’s charities, including Barnardo’s, sexual health campaigners and even the police to introduce compulsory sex education in schools. “These figures highlight the importance of building resilience in young people and educating them about sexual relationships,” Bailey, who is also chief constable of Norfolk police, said.

Jerry Barnett, a free-speech campaigner who has written about what he sees as a rising moral panic surrounding pornography and sexuality, said the Barnardo’s findings might say more about the changing attitudes of authorities than a sudden change in teenage sexuality.



“I first heard morality campaigners claiming a huge upsurge in playground harassment in 2011, at Claire Perry’s parliamentary inquiry into filters,” Barnett said. “These figures show a spike from 2013-16. Yet porn usage hasn’t increased post-2013. It seems the spike correlates with a post-2011 moral panic about porn, and not with porn usage at all.

“I believe we’re watching education authorities, charities and police forces responding to a moral panic, not teens responding to ‘sexualisation’.”

A government spokesman said: “Child sexual abuse is a horrendous crime and this government is committed to preventing children and young people from becoming both victims and perpetrators.

“Our ongoing ‘Disrespect NoBody’ campaign is helping young people understand what a healthy relationship looks like and to re-think their views on controlling, violent and abusive behaviour.”