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* * * TRIGGER WARNING * * *
* * * The below story mentions online child abuse * * *
Last year, we visited a local primary school to speak to a couple of the children about their attendance. Whilst on the school visit, one of the little boy's involved disclosed that he had been getting upset about something that was happening when he went online on his game every night. He had been talking to a "friend" for a while on this online game, but that recently this friend had started to ask him to send inappropriate photo's of himself.
He said that he had sent one photo of himself, but didn't feel comfortable to send any of himself in his pants like the "friend" was asking for. This "friend" had been starting to have conversations that he didn't want to be involved with. His "friend" used to only talk about the game, but started to send threats on the messages when the little boy didn't reply or send any more photo's. This resulted in him choosing to miss school, he was so scared.
We only met the little boy because he had been absent a lot from school, and his parents were concerned as they didn't know why his behaviour had changed. They said that he used to be a very confident child, but had become very withdrawn and disinterested in the things that he used to like.
We told the little boy that his parents would need to be spoken with, so that they knew what was going on. He was terrified as he thought that he was going to get into trouble. We reassured him that it was only way to sort things and that this wasn't his fault.
We visited the home address as agreed, and at first he refused to come out of his bedroom. His parents thought that we simply visiting in relation to the attendance at school.
Eventually, we told them. They were devastated, but invited him into the kitchen to join us to talk about what had gone on. He slowly made his way down the stairs, and he crept into the kitchen. His Dad immediately reached out to him for a hug. He melted into his Dad's arms, you could tell that had been all he had needed for a few weeks. Both parents were so supportive.
We sat down and went through everything. We discussed suitable ages for game chats, and spoke about PANTS.
The little boy thought that he was to blame for what had gone on. We told him about the word "grooming" and how it's easier for people to do this online, because people can hide their age, gender and identity, and that children like him, would simply think that they're talking to a child the same age.
We're so happy that this little boy felt safe enough to tell us about what was going on online. We're grateful that the parents were so understanding of the situation, and dealt with the situation with warmth and love.
Unfortunately, he won't be the only child to experience this, so here are some useful links in relation to the story above to help other local families in Crewe -
PANTS - Talk PANTS: A Guide To Protecting Children | Parenta.com
Young people under 18 can report s*xu*l images and videos of themselves and get them removed from the internet. This won't affect any police investigations. The service is run by Childline. - The IWF can remove images that are public or available to anyone on the internet. However, they won’t be able to remove images or videos on encrypted networks like WhatsApp, or which are saved on a person’s phone or computer. - Report Remove | Childline
Stay safe. PCSO Lizzie Jolley 22582 Crewe Police
#crewepolice #pcsojolley22582 | 
