10.02.2006

An international police website set up to receive reports of online ‘grooming’ has received over 250 reports in its first year.

Children hit offenders where it hurts through anti-grooming website

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www.virtualglobaltaskforce.com (VGT) allows children to report concerns over suspicious activity online directly to a police officer. This could include, for example, a conversation where a child is being groomed online for sex.

The child can simply ‘cut and paste’ a section of conversation which is then transmitted to an officer in the Paedophile Online Investigation Team (POLIT) based at the National Crime Squad.

A number of investigations are ongoing as a result of reports received via VGT.

The VGT is a partnership of law enforcement agencies from around the world who are working together to fight paedophiles who use the internet to abuse and exploit children. This includes the downloading of abusive images of children. The VGT website was launched in January 2005.

VGT was launched in January 2005 by an international partnership of law enforcement agencies working together to fight paedophiles who use the internet to abuse and exploit children. This includes the downloading of abusive images of children.

Since then, 250 reports have been received, half of which relate to allegations of grooming online. The remaining 50 per cent relate to inappropriate comments or chat - for example, on message boards, in news groups or on websites - or harrasment and bullying online.

Around 20% of reports come directly from children and young people around 30% are from parents.

Jim Gamble, Deputy Director of the National Crime Squad and Chairman of the Virtual Global Taskforce said:

"Paedophiles who use the internet to abuse and exploit children should know that if they attempt to groom a child online, they could end up with a police officer on their doorstep.

The Virtual Global Taskforce has empowered children online. We want every child in the UK to save www.virtualglobaltaskforce.com to their ‘favourites’ - then they ‘re only one click away from a police officer.”

In addition to enabling children and adults to report concerns over suspicious activity, the site also acts as a gateway to a range of information about online safety and links to support agencies that can assist victims of abuse.

The online reporting facility currently operates in the UK and Australia but will be rolled out in Canada and the USA over the coming months. The site has received 17 million hits in its first year and is accessible via 4,000 other websites worldwide.