Over 5,500 sex crimes reported in UK schools
New data points to over 5,500 cases of sexual assaults in UK schools, reported to the British police over the past three years.
The figures, obtained by the state-run BBC through Freedom of Information requests sent to all British forces, showed there were nearly 4,000 alleged physical sexual assaults and more than 600 rapes at UK schools in the period.
They showed more than 1,500 victims were under 13, and in some cases both the victims and the suspects were just 5-years-old.
However, details about the rest of the assaults - those not carried out through the so-called "peer-on-peer" abuse - were unclear.
The sexual offences were recorded by the police at schools during the last three academic years from 2012 to 2015. Police Scotland provided figures for 2011-2013, the report added.
One victim told the British broadcaster about how she was assaulted in a school storeroom by a fellow pupil when she was 15. A second victim, a boy, described being sexually assaulted by three of his friends in a classroom when he was 15.
Children's charities have blamed easy access to pornography for "warping" the youths’ minds and their behavior. Jon Brown, head of Sexual Abuse Programs at the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), said, "These figures are very disturbing, especially as many victims are so young and the reported offences took place on school premises. Sadly, we are not surprised as previous NSPCC research has illustrated the scale of abuse committed by young people.”
"We know that for some older children, accessing hardcore pornography is warping their view of what is acceptable behavior. And the very young – those of primary school age or even younger – may be copying sexual activity they have witnessed."
Chief Constable Simon Bailey, head of child protection at the National Police Chiefs Council, fears the figures may merely be the "tip of the iceberg".
According to the Department of Education, a total of 60 children were expelled from schools in England for sexual misconduct in 2013/14.
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