Charity calls for action against child sexual abuse online

A children’s charity has called on tech companies to act quickly after a man was jailed for sending sexual messages to two young teenagers on Snapchat.

Thomas Weller, 33, from Faygate, near Horsham, was sentenced to 34 months in prison after admitting to sending “really disgusting” explicit texts.

A spokesman for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) said: “He used Snapchat to contact these young people – a social media platform used in a large proportion of online grooming crimes “It has features that don’t.” was designed to keep young users safe.

In a statement, a Snapchat spokesperson said: “Any sexual exploitation and abuse of young people is terrible and illegal and our condolences go out to the victims in this case.”

The NSPCC is also calling on Ofcom to “significantly strengthen” its approach to tackling child sexual abuse through “effective enforcement” of the Online Safety Act.

The charity said: “We are calling on technology companies to take swift and ambitious action to address current events on their platforms.”

The mother of a 13-year-old girl who exchanged nearly 300 messages with Weller said she believed her daughter was “scarred for life” and had lost trust in everyone.

The court also heard how the social worker, posing as a 20-year-old man, exchanged more than 200 Snapchat messages with a 15-year-old boy, offering to come to his home.

The former social worker pleaded guilty on two counts of sexual communication with a child and misconduct in public office in July.

Ofcom says its proposed online safety codes, due to be completed by the end of 2024, will be “game-changing” in creating safer online lives for children.

Under the codes, tech companies would be required to put measures in place to protect users from illegal online content, including material about child sexual abuse and grooming.

Ofcom said if platforms fail to protect children, they would have a range of enforcement powers to ensure they are held to account.

“We are already looking at how we can further strengthen our codes as our evidence increases, for example by using AI to detect harmful child sexual abuse content.”

Snapchat said it “immediately” removes content it finds or receives reports about. Additionally, the sender’s account will be deactivated and the activity will be reported to authorities.

The spokesman said: “We are also making it more difficult for young people to make contact with strangers.”

“We keep friend lists private and don’t allow teens to receive messages from anyone they haven’t added as a friend or don’t have in their phone contacts.”

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