Police forces in England and Wales are struggling to effectively
investigate online child sexual abuse and
manage registered sex offenders, as rising demand continues to
exceed resources, a new report has found.
His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue
Services (HMICFRS) found that while officers and staff work hard
in difficult circumstances, and some forces have developed
innovative approaches, the overall picture across England and
Wales falls short of what the public should expect.
Inspectors found that the number of referrals for online child
sex abuse from the National Crime Agency (NCA) to police forces
rose 66 percent in a single year, from 12,469 in 2023 to 20,704
in 2024. The number of registered sex offenders has increased by
48 percent over the last decade and nearly 3,000 more were added
to the register in 2024/25 compared to 2023/24.
HMICFRS said the problems included:
- demand for online child sexual abuse investigation and sex
offender management consistently exceeding resources, with some
investigators managing up to 54 active cases at one time;
- digital forensic examinations taking up to two years in some
forces, which can delay investigations and may leave children
without adequate safeguarding for
prolonged periods;
- no nationally accredited training course for officers
investigating online child sexual abuse, leading to inconsistent
quality of investigations across England and Wales;
- technology use varying greatly across forces, with some
lacking basic digital triage equipment to check suspects' devices
during home visits; and
- online child sexual abuse investigation and sex offender
management being treated as separate areas despite being closely
connected, with no joined-up national approach.
His Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary Michelle
Skeer said:
“Online child sexual abuse is one of the most serious and
fastest-growing crimes facing our society today. It can have a
lasting and devastating impact on children and their families.
“The officers and staff working in these teams show tremendous
dedication in extremely difficult conditions. But dedication
alone is not enough.
“Demand is rising at a rate that forces cannot keep pace with
using current resources. Children are waiting too long to be
safeguarded. Investigators are carrying unsustainable caseloads.
And too many forces lack the technology and training they need to
do this work effectively.
“However, forces cannot solve this alone. The Home Office, the
National Police Chiefs' Council and the College of Policing must
act urgently on our recommendations. Without national investment
and co-ordination, the situation will worsen and children could
be put at further risk.”
The inspectorate also found that some forces were using voluntary attendance
for interview instead of arrest when investigating online child
sexual abuse, often to manage workloads. Arrest powers allow
police to search premises, seize devices and impose bail conditions that
restrict a suspect's behaviour. Without these powers, suspects
can continue to access children online while investigations are
ongoing. Some forces released suspects under investigation rather
than applying bail conditions and told inspectors that they
didn't use bail unless the suspect was high risk or had direct
access to children. This doesn't consider that access to children
can also happen online.
HMICFRS found examples of good practice. Warwickshire Police have
developed specialist training courses for online child sexual
abuse investigators. Thames Valley Police has created a bespoke
digital training course for sex offender managers, which the
College of Policing is
now assessing for national rollout. And Northumbria Police has
trained specialist digital media assessors who triage devices at
the scene, reducing how many devices are sent for forensic
examination and improving the speed and quality of
investigations.
However, the inspectorate concluded that individual forces cannot
resolve these problems alone. Seven of the 16 recommendations
made in the report are directed at national bodies – the Home
Office, the National Police Chiefs'
Council (NPCC) and the College of Policing – because systemic
change requires national investment, leadership and
co-ordination.
The inspectorate has recommended that:
- the College of Policing should create a national
investigators' course for online child sexual abuse and mandate a
bespoke national digital training course for managing sex
offenders;
- forces should review their staffing levels to make sure
workloads are manageable;
- sex offender managers and the NPCC should review the
authorised professional
practice(APP) for managing sexual and violent offenders;
- the Home Office and NPCC should explore whether all 43 police
forces could purchase digital triage equipment collectively,
rather than individually; and
- forces should make sure registered sex offender home visits
are always carried out in pairs and unannounced and should
consider arrest and bail for all online child sexual abuse
suspects.
ENDS
Notes to Editors
- ‘The policing response to the investigation of online child
sexual abuse and the management of registered sex offenders (PEEL
spotlight report)' will be published at 22:00 on Wednesday 15
April 2026 on the HMICFRS website.
- The report draws on findings from PEEL inspection cycles
covering 2021–22 and 2023–25 across all 43 forces in England and
Wales.
