Reported child sexual offences remain at high levels in the East of England as the NSPCC launches a nationwide campaign to keep children safe.

New data reveals that almost 87,000 child sexual offences were recorded by police in 2022/23.

Types of offences included rape, sexual assault, sexual grooming and sexual exploitation.

Data from police forces in the region show more than 10,000 sex offences against under-18s were recorded in 2022/23.

To help tackle this issue, the NSPCC Helpline and the Home Office are launching a campaign to encourage adults to reach out with concerns of child sexual abuse.

New figures compiled by the NSPCC reveal that child sexual offences recorded by police over the past year remain close to record levels.

The Freedom of Information data totalled 86,962 child sexual offences recorded by police across the UK in 2022/23, which remains one of the highest on record since starting the annual research 16 years ago.

Types of offences included rape, sexual assault, sexual grooming, and sexual exploitation. The highest number of crimes where age was known were perpetrated against 11 to 15-year-olds.

In the East of England, 10,424 offences were recorded by police forces in 2022/23.

· Bedfordshire Police -840

· Cambridgeshire Police – 1,364

· Essex Police - 2,638

· Hertfordshire Police – 1,152

· Norfolk Police – 1,667

· Northamptonshire Police – 1,346

· Suffolk Police – 1,417

This comes as the NSPCC launches a new campaign in partnership with the Home Office to tackle child sexual abuse.

Kam Thandi, helpline director at the NSPCC, said: “The high numbers of child sexual offences being reported by police forces across the UK are a warning to us all that more must be done to tackle this abuse."

The Home Office is providing funding for the NSPCC Helpline to increase capacity as well as to raise awareness of the service to the public and professionals.

Adults concerned about a child’s safety or wellbeing can contact the NSPCC Helpline at: help@nspcc.org.uk or call: 0808 800 5000. Children can contact Childline on: 0800 1111 or childline.org.uk.