POLICE are warning parents about 10 less well-known apps and chat tools used by paedophiles to contact young people online.
Worryingly, these apps have featured in a range of recent investigations into child abuse, indecent images of children, sexual communication with a child offences.
Apps such as Whisper and Kik are increasingly featuring in such cases, which require extensive enquiries by the force’s Digital Forensics Unit to secure key evidence.
These are the 10 Apps which your children may be using which you need to be aware of:
More information, support and reporting can be found at:
Child Exploitation Online Protection command (CEOP) – www.ceop.police.uk/
NSPCC Helplines: Help for adults concerned about a child – call 0808 800 5000; Help for children and young people – call Childline on 0800 1111; Go to www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/
Please contact North Yorkshire Police on 101. If you are in immediate danger, always dial 999 for an emergency response
You can also contact Supporting Victims in North Yorkshire at www.supportingvictims.org or call 01609 643100.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here