Lauren Cox, 27, from Surrey, had an affair with a 16-year-old schoolboy

A record number of women are being convicted of sex crimes, with many of their attacks carried out on children.

Some 142 were guilty of sex offences in 2016 – almost double the 74 convicted two years earlier and more than triple the number at the start of the decade.

Among them was married geography teacher Lauren Cox, 27, who was jailed for 12 months following an affair with a 16-year-old pupil. Cox, of Croydon, south London, admitted five counts of sex with a child in her charge.

Experts said the Ministry of Justice figures for 2016, the most recent available, reflected a change in attitudes towards women engaging in sexual contact with adolescent males – depicted as a rite of passage in films such as The Graduate.

Most sexual offences are carried out by men but in recent years there has been a sharp rise in women being hauled into court for these crimes, which include grooming schoolboys.

Steve Lowe, director of Phoenix Forensic Consultants which treats and assesses child sex abusers, said: ‘The rise has occurred because we are more prepared as a society to accept that women can be sexual predators and we are beginning to change our perception of the idea that a young male having sex with an adult woman is a rite of passage.

‘Now we would question a 13-year-old boy having sex with a 28-year-old woman. In the past that was more likely to have been accepted. But if you reverse that, it is obvious that a 28-year-old man having sex with a 13-year-old girl is abusive.

‘Historically, sex with an older woman was routinely seen as a positive thing for young males. It’s possible that films such as The Graduate reinforce this view. But I would never accept that. These are distorted relationships and connections.

‘It is also likely that greater education of young males allows them to talk about having been sexually abused.’ Dr Kieran McCartan, associate professor of criminology at the University of the West of England in Bristol, said: ‘We are seeing an increase in the reporting, recording and sentencing of female perpetrators of sexual harm, nationally and internationally.

‘This is down to a number of factors, including increased numbers of victims coming forward, more attuned police investigations, more cases being referred to the courts and more cases being successful.

Cox, who pleaded guilty to five counts of sexual activity with a boy aged 13 to 17, was jailed for 12 months for her crimes

‘The police and the Crown Prosecution Service are being more proactive on these cases than ever before.’

The tally of 142 female sex offenders includes 16 women convicted of sexually assaulting males and 21 guilty of the same offence against women and girls.

Six were convicted of rape, 37 of sexual activity with or involving a child, one of sexual grooming, 35 for internet child pornography offences and four for exposure and voyeurism.

Women were also convicted of abusing their position of trust to commit sexual offences, which can be brought against teachers and carers assaulting children in their charge. Other offences included causing sexual activity without consent and gross indecency with a child.

Men were guilty of the vast majority of sex offences involving children, a total of 10,911.