Met police ‘failing to tackle online child abuse’

The Metropolitan Police Service is failing to effectively tackle online child sexual abuse and exploitation cases, according to a critical inspection report. HM Inspectorate of Constabulary, and Fire and Rescue Services looked at 34 cases involving online abuse and exploitation of children, during an inspection of child protection services in October last year, and found that 29 were either “inadequate” or “required improvement”. Failures were so severe in 15 of the cases they were sent back to the force for review. This included failures to follow child protection procedures and leaving children potentially at risk of harm. The inspectorate notes that while the Met has improved some areas of child protection, the force’s response to online child sexual abuse and exploitation has worsened since its last inspection in 2017. “We found that the current arrangements for investigating online cases involving indecent images of children and sexual exploitation are not working,” states the inspectorate’s report. Read more.