A Teacher has Been Accused of Engaging in Sexual Acts with a Child After Communicating via Snapchat

  • A teacher has been accused of sexually abusing a 15-year-old pupil after befriending him on snapchat, a court has heard. 
  • The pupil, who can not be named for legal reasons failed to tell anyone, as the teacher allegedly told him she was pregnant with his child and insinuated that she would accuse him of rape if he told anyone. 
  • Jurors heard how she approached the child at a sports award evening, added him on Snapchat messenger and later asked him if he wanted to meet privately. The teacher allegedly picked him in her car and drove to a field to have sex and later sent the boy topless pictures of herself, which, it is alleged were passed between classmates the court heard. 
  • The defendant has denied three counts of causing or inciting a child aged under 16 years to engage in a sexual act, one count of sexual communication with a child, one count of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activities while in a position of trust and one count of causing a child to watch a sexual act by a person in a position of trust. The trial continues.

Record Number of Online Child Abuse Cases Recorded by Police

  • The number of online child sex abuse cases logged by police has hit a record high, figures suggest.
  • More than 10,000 offences were recorded between April 2019 and March 2020, a 16% increase on the previous year, according to an analysis by the NSPCC.
  • Police forces in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands responded to the charity’s Freedom of Information request but the NSPCC is concerned the real figure may be higher.
  • The data relates to the 12 months before the coronavirus lockdown. 
  • During lockdown, police warned of a rise in the grooming of children on the internet.
  • This data brings the total number of recorded offences in the five years since it became mandatory to record whether a crime involved the internet to more than 37,000.

Tech Firms Failed to Stop Spread of COVID 19 Misinformation

  • Social networks are failing to tackle coronavirus-related anti-vaccination posts containing “clearly harmful information” even after the material is brought to their attention, according to The Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH). 
  • The group has flagged more than 900 examples to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube via a team of volunteers, stating that the firms did not remove or otherwise deal with 95% of the cases.
  • The four platforms each have policies designed to restrict such content.
  • The CCDH said UK lawmakers should accelerate existing plans to hold the companies to account as a consequence.
  • The US firms were shown a copy of the report ahead of its publication which contains selected examples. But CCDH has yet to disclose the full list of links of the posts involved, although it has pledged to do so on request now that the report is out.

Girl Guides Call for Labels on Digitally Altered Photos

  • Influencers and advertisers should be forced to declare digitally altered photos on social media, the body representing UK Girl Guides has said
  • The Girlguiding charity has backed a proposed law by a backbench MP that would force social media users and advertisers to label images where bodies or faces have been edited.
  • The bill is designed to address unrealistic portrayals of beauty in the media and online, but critics have said it is unenforceable.
  • The Girlguiding Advocate panel, whose members are aged 14 to 25, welcomed the proposals.
  • The panel cited its own research which suggests around half of young women aged between 11 and 21 regularly use apps or filters to make photos of themselves look better online.

Man Convicted of Possession of Videos and Images of Extreme Child Sex Abuse