20,000 sex offences against children in one year

The children's welfare charity said it was "shocking" that so many serious crimes, including rape, gross indecency and incest, were committed against girls and boys under 18.


In almost one in four of the cases recorded by police forces across the country, the victims were 10 or younger, while 800 involved pre-school children.



The data show almost 40 per cent of the total recorded sexual offences were committed against children, with 20,758 sex crimes in which the victim was under 18. There were six times as many crimes involving girls than boys.


Almost one in four (4,984) involved under-10s, while more than a third (7,622) involved teenagers between 13 and 15 years old.


In more than 800 cases the victim was aged under four, and 163 offences were recorded involving infants aged one or two.