Demand For Action Over Online Child Sex Abuse

The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) has called for tech giants to take positive action after a man was jailed for sexually messaging two young teenagers on the social media app, Snapchat.

Thomas Weller, a 33 year old social worker from Faygate, near Horsham, was sentenced to 34 months in prison after he admitted sending "truly revolting" explicit texts.

A spokesperson from the charity said: "He used Snapchat to contact these young people - a social media platform that is used in a large proportion of online grooming crimes because it has features that have not been designed to keep young users safe."

In a statement, Snapchat said: "Any sexual exploitation and abuse of young people is horrific and illegal and our hearts go out to the victims in this case."

The NSPCC is also urging Ofcom to "significantly strengthen" its approach to tackling child sexual abuse through "effective enforcement" of the Online Safety Act.

In response, Ofcom said that new online safety codes, due to be completed by the end of the year, would be "game-changing" in creating a safer life online for children and that powers would be made available to prosecute those who failed to abide by the codes.

The mother of one of the girls concerned said her daughter exchanged nearly 300 messages with Weller and that she had been "scarred for life" and lost trust in everyone.

Weller, who posed as a 20-year-old man, also exchanged more than 200 Snapchat messages with a 15-year-old boy. 

He pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual communication with a child and misconduct in public office in July.

Cases like Weller’s show that abuse of this nature will not be tolerated and anyone convicted of such heinous crimes will be punished to the full extent of the law in order to protect the most vulnerable in our society.

At a recent hearing before the Court of Appeal, it was held that non-touching sexual abuse can be considered as a ‘crime of violence’ and that the victim was eligible for criminal injuries compensation. 

The Court’s judgment is particularly welcome in that it recognises the ever-increasing use of social media in today’s society as a tool by which to cause harm and widens the parameters in terms of the victim’s eligibility to receive damages for a violent crime.