Paedophiles using Clash of Clans and Instagram to groom children as young as seven

Sexual predators are grooming children using the smartphone gaming app Clash of Clans and popular social networking site Instagram.

Chilling figures obtained by the Manchester Evening News revealed that almost 400 girls and boys as young as seven are being groomed via social media sites, mobile apps and chat rooms.

A total of 389 incidents have been reported to Greater Manchester Police over the past three years, with more than two-thirds taking place during last year alone.

The figures show one nine-year-old boy was groomed via smartphone game app Clash of Clans.

One of the youngest victims was a seven-year-old boy from Tyldesley who was targeted through Instagram.

He was sexually abused by the suspect, yet no charges were brought as the person could not be identified.

Online: Children as young as seven are being groomed by predators

Predators mainly used Facebook and WhatsApp to find young victims, although they also used Snapchat, BBM, Skype and Oovoo.

The Freedom of Information request found that most of the crimes reported involved young and teenage girls, with just a handful of cases involving boys in 2013-14.

This number shot up in 2015, with boys the youngest of the recorded victims.

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Despite police bringing charges against a lot of the cyber criminals, there were many cases where suspects could not be identified or there was insufficient evidence.

A spokesman for Supercell, the Helsinki-based firm which owns Clash Of Clans, where players build an army of wizards and barbarians to fight against other plays online, stressed that the game is described as for 13s and over before it can be dowloaded.

Only public and no private ‘chat’ was possible with other players in the game while regular warnings are flashed up about the dangers of sharing personal information, he said.

Target: Snapchat, BBM and Skype are also being used by sex beasts

He added a ‘blacklist’ of offensive words and phrases had been compiled and players were removed from the game whenever they appear.

Tools also exist within the game to report inappropriate behaviour while players could also ‘mute’ other players so that chat was no longer possible with them, he said.

“Supercell takes security very seriously,” he added.

Instagram would not comment when contacted by the M.E.N.

However it requires users to be at least 13 before they are allowed to set up an account. Users can report anyone they suspect is under 13 or using the app for inappropriate purposes. It says it has a team reviewing these reports round the clock.

Instagram’s community guidelines stress it is supposed to be a friendly place where everyone should feel safe and comfortable sharing their lives through photos and videos.

Charity warns sex offenders are ‘trawling’ social networks and game environments

Risk: The NSPCC says contact from online sexual offenders is a big problem

An NSPCC spokesman said methods used by offenders can be very sophisticated and they can target hundreds of children at a time.

They said: “Contact from online sexual offenders is a huge problem and children in the UK can be targeted from anywhere in the world, with the methods sometimes very sophisticated. In 2014/15, around 400 children called Childline about online grooming, an increase of around 50 per cent on the previous year.

“Online predators may trawl social networks, online game environments and other areas popular with children to make contact with them – targeting hundreds of children at a time.

“This is a particularly challenging crime for police to investigate because of the location of some offenders and efforts to conceal identities. Investigations can be complex and time consuming but high profile operations and convictions show these criminals can be traced to face justice.”

Vanessa Jardine, Detective Chief Superintendent at Greater Manchester Police said: “Online grooming is a very serious crime that has become more and more prevalent as young peoples’ understanding of and access to mobile technology increases.

Concerns: Vanessa Jardine, Detective Chief Superintendent at Greater Manchester Police

“Since the launch of the ‘It’s not okay’ publicity campaign and website in 2014, we have seen a noticeable rise in reports of child sexual exploitation, including online grooming, something that we attribute to the fact that young people and their families have an increased confidence in coming forward and know that we will take their report seriously.

“Each report is treated individually, with specially trained officers speaking to victims where needed. We are also always looking for the best ways to handle the ever changing landscape of online crime in the most appropriate way.

“Grooming and child sexual exploitation is a horrific crime that we are working incredibly hard to tackle in Greater Manchester. We have been working with partner organisations to both locate and protect those vulnerable to CSE, and bring offenders to justice.”

If you have any concerns that a young person you know may be a victim of online grooming advice is available at www.itsnotokay.co.uk The website has details of local specialist teams in your area.

You can also report it to Greater Manchester Police on 101 or you can call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Paedophiles using Clash of Clans and Instagram to groom children as young as seven