Online porn ‘is turning children into sex attackers’: Young act out depraved scenes they see on web, says Deputy Children’s Commissioner

  • ‘There
    isn’t a town, village or hamlet in which children are not being sexually exploited,’ Sue Berelowitz tells MPs
  • Online porn is ‘affecting children’s thresholds of what they think is normal’ leading them to ‘enact’ scenes from porn films
  • Girls are being lured into parks by boys they meet
    online and gang-raped, she tells politicians
  • Blocking computers is not enough – because children are now targeted via their
    mobiles

By
James Slack

18:11 EST, 12 June 2012

|

01:39 EST, 13 June 2012

Children are committing depraved sex
attacks after having their minds warped by online porn, a government
expert warned yesterday.

In evidence to MPs, the Deputy
Children’s Commissioner claimed there ‘isn’t a town, village or hamlet
in which children are not being sexually exploited’ – often by other
youngsters.

Sue Berelowitz said internet porn was ‘affecting children’s
thresholds of what they think is normal’.

Horrendous: Thousands of children the country are being sexually exploited, stunned MPs were told today (picture posed by model)

Horrendous: Thousands of children the country are being sexually exploited, stunned MPs were told today (picture posed by model)

They are then ‘enacting’ scenes from porn movies – often as
part of gangs which subject young girls to terrible abuse.

The deputy commissioner, appointed to
look after the best interests of children, backed the Mail’s campaign
for controls to make it harder for youngsters to access pornographic
images on computers.

MPs, charities and this paper want a
new ‘opt-in’ system – where access to porn is normally blocked by the
internet service provider, unless parents specifically request
otherwise. Miss Berelowitz told MPs this move would be the right way to
make a ‘start’.

She said parents needed to recognise
children could access porn from home computers and mobiles, and they
alone would not be able to control successfully what young people could
see.

Appearing before the Home Affairs
Select Committee, Miss Berelowitz told of her great concern about what
internet porn was doing to vulnerable young minds.

She explained: ‘We’ve had boys say to
us – some of the boys I’ve spoken to who’ve been involved in sexual
exploitation – “it was like being in a porn movie”.

‘They have watched things and then
they’ve enacted them. It has definitely affected children’s thresholds
of what they think is normal.’

BLOCK ONLINE PORN

Her comments will increase the pressure on ministers to take drastic
action to protect children from damaging images online.

The opt-in system is being resisted
by
internet companies, who make millions from adverts for pornographic
websites. Ministers, who have been criticised for their close ties to
companies such as Google, have yet to reach a final decision.

Miss Berelowitz, who is carrying out a
two-year investigation on street grooming, painted a depressing picture
of child sex abuse.

She added: ‘What I am uncovering is
that sexual exploitation of children is happening all over the country.
As one police officer who was the lead in a very big investigation in a
very lovely, leafy, rural part of the country said to me, “There isn’t a
town, village or hamlet in which children are not being sexually
exploited”.

‘The evidence that has come to the
fore during the course of my inquiry is that that, unfortunately,
appears to be the case. We should start from the assumption that
children are being sexually exploited right the way across the country.
In urban, rural and metropolitan areas, I have hard evidence of children
being sexually exploited. It is very sadistic, it is very violent, it
is very ugly.’

Horror: Children are being targeted on Facebook - and in one instance word of a gang rape was spread by BlackBerry messenger. (Picture posed by model)

Horror: Children are being targeted on Facebook – and in one instance word of a gang rape was spread by BlackBerry messenger. (Picture posed by model)

Giving examples from the capital, she
said: ‘There are parts of London where certainly children expect to have
to perform oral sex on line-ups of boys, up to two hours at a time from
the age of 11.’

Miss Berelowitz added that it was
‘quite common’ for girls to be lured via internet chatrooms to meet a
friend, only to be met by a group of boys and gang-raped in a park.

She went on: ‘Then another group of
boys come, they take her to another part of the park and she is serially
raped again. I wish I could say to you that such things are uncommon
but I’m afraid they are quite common.’

The deputy commissioner told MPs that
‘what is being done is so terrible that people need to lay aside their
denial’ or risk victims being disbelieved. Victims numbered in the
thousands not the hundreds, she said.

She said she was ‘extremely concerned’
about the role being played by the internet in enabling and fuelling
abuse. Young people were even organising abuse via social networking
sites and messaging systems.


Enlarge

 
The sexual predators lurking in online 'hotel'

Peter Davies, chief executive of the
Child Exploitation and Online Protection centre, has warned that
children are accessing the web at a far younger age, meaning they could
stumble across adult material.

His organisation is now distributing
films to schools aimed at children between the ages of five and eight,
to train them how to avoid online dangers.

In his evidence to MPs yesterday, Mr
Davies said he would score the public sector only ‘five out of ten’ for
its ability to protect children from abuse.

He claimed that, on average, one child in every 20 was the victim of
sexual abuse.

Here’s what other readers have said. Why not add your thoughts,
or debate this issue live on our message boards.

The comments below have not been moderated.

Here is a fantastic example of how the government try to hide the real problem. Recent events have shown us who is targeting our children and we know that this activity is rife in most towns and cities across the Uk. So please Mrs Deputy Children’s Commissioner, Stop trying to insult our intelligence and address the real problem. Oh and by the way… In London those minorities you speak of are majorities.

@When this woman can give names, dates and places MAYBE I’ll believe her but until then all I see is an excuse for the Government to control the Internet and take away another of our freedoms!
– Albert, Sick and stuck in the UK, 13/6/2012 9:11…………………………………………………………………………………… Obviously a ‘head stuck in the sand’ Guardian reader.

Money (for the internet companies) is the root of all evil again. How would any of their directors feel if it was one of their own children who became a victim?

There you go folks. Pirate Bay was first now get ready for the rest. Internet cencorship begins.

I would always applaud any campaign that aims to protects our children. However, I cannot help but think that Sue Berelowitz is treading on very dangerous ground by saying that there isn’t a hamlet in the country (nevermind a village) where children aren’t being sexually exploited. This is scaremongering at its worst.

This story is as usual blown out of all proportion! Why not target online trolling instead whih is much more real and on the rise…. There are lots of things which are out ofcontrol onthe net is what i am saying.stop making out porn is always the bad guy.

And everybody is wondering why???!!!
READ BELOW WHY!
– early school start age (innocent 4-5 year olds having to mix with 11-12 years olds at the same playground/school premises) when in Europe, Russia, Scandinavia they are still in kindergarten!
– politically correct PC schoolteachers and nursery staff who are not allowed even to break a fight in nurseries now amongst 2-3 year olds!
– unsupervised TV/Internet/Console games access by moronic parents
– explicit sex education taught at all schools bordering with peadophilia!!!

Most porn is made in the judeo christian west.

This is so horrible. I do agree with others that a lot (most? all?) of the problems today’s generation of children have is due to bad parenting. However, it’s also true that parents can’t monitor their kids 24/7, and can’t really do anything about what they decide to do or watch after school at their friends’ house for instance. Also, I think it’s really sad that children aren’t allowed to be children anymore…and technology certainly hasn’t helped, to the contrary I believe. I do believe we’re bringing up a warped generation. I actually cherish my childhood in the 80’s, when it was o.k. to still be a KID at the age of 11-12, for goodness’ sake.

I have serious doubts about the validity of this report … it sounds as though the Deputy Children’s Commissioner is trying desperately to prove her theory.

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