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Good Evening Resident Criminal exploitation is when an individual or a group manipulates, deceives, coerces or controls someone under the age of 18 to take part in any activity which breaks the law.
All children are at risk of criminal exploitation, including girls.
You may have heard the term "county lines," this is one form of criminal exploitation.
It is when people involved in criminal activity identify, target and befriend children, either online or offline, and manipulate them into dealing drugs or other activities across geographical areas.
Criminal exploitation can take many forms, from making children hold, hide or deliver drugs, money or weapons, to forcing children to steal, harm others or beg.
It's important to be aware of the signs and indicators of child criminal exploitation.
Child criminal exploitation can take many different forms, all of which can cause serious harm.
There are different types of exploitation that children can experience. They can often occur simultaneously with other forms of exploitation and abuse.
Although there is no exhaustive list and no two experiences of criminal exploitation are the same, the following are some of the signs and indicators you can look out for.
Signs that a young person may be being exploited include:
Changes in behaviour
Frequently missing from home, care or education
Unexplained money, gifts or new possessions
Unexplained injuries
Carrying weapons
Getting involved in fights
Committing crimes, such as shoplifting.
The video below is the real story of a criminal exploitation in North Yorkshire told from both the young person’s and his mum’s perspective.
Please be advised that this video does contain some explicit language.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=o_-rsrKjUY8gPCFZ&v=uditr30Dik8&feature=youtu.be If you suspect that your child is being exploited, it's important to take action right away.
Speak with your child immediately and provide them with a safe and supportive environment where they can share their concerns.
If you – or someone you know – are being harmed or in immediate danger of being harmed, call us on 999.
* If you have concerns about a child's safety or welfare, you can contact the NSPCC Helpline by calling 0808 800 5000, email - help@NSPCC.org.uk or report online at https://orlo.uk/NlJyv Remember, if a child or young person is in immediate danger, call us on 999. * If you are a young person and you want to speak to someone, and you don't want to call Police, you can call Childline, free, on 0800 1111. * If you know or suspect who is responsible for exploiting a child or young person you can give information 100% anonymously to Fearless on 0800 555 111 * You can contact North Yorkshire Police either via 101 or via our website https://orlo.uk/k1hAl Kind Regards Nathan |
