Exclusive: Teenagers 'fall victim every day to internet predators'

VULNERABLE teenagers in Yorkshire go missing "every day" after meeting strangers over the internet, one of Britain's most senior police chiefs has warned.

West Yorkshire Police Chief Constable Sir Norman Bettison urged parents to take more interest in what their children view online, revealing that his officers were being asked to investigate rapes and sexual assaults linked to the web.

His warning came as Home Secretary Alan Johnson exchanged "frank views" about internet security with bosses at networking website Facebook, two days after a judge heard how Harrogate paedophile Ivan Lumley used the site to groom a 15-year-old girl for sex.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Facebook was also used by serial sex attacker Peter Chapman, who posed as a young boy on the website to trick 17-year-old Ashleigh Hall into meeting him before kidnapping, raping and murdering her in County Durham.

Last night Facebook confirmed that it was considering whether to install a panic button that would allow users to report suspected paedophiles.

Sir Norman, a vice-president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, said the internet was an "ungoverned space" which carried "real risks and threats".

"We get cases every day which thankfully don't amount to the tragedy that is depicted in the Ashleigh Hall case," he said.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"We get people missing from home and, when you trace them, they have gone to meet anonymous people who aren't the people who presented themselves in the internet exchanges.

"We get allegations of rape and sexual assault from people about individuals they had absolutely no knowledge of.

"They have got themselves into situations which leave them vulnerable and which they cannot control."

Ivan Lumley, 38, of Albert Road, Harrogate, was jailed for 20 months on Tuesday after pleading guilty to three counts of sexual activity with a girl under 16 and taking a child without authority.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He befriended the 15-year-old girl on Facebook and agreed to take her from her Preston school to his bedsit 60 miles away. The teenager was hiding naked under a bed when the police found her.

Sir Norman said: "What used to happen is that the police would either get a report, or the good officer on the beat would notice, that a strange man was hanging around the school gates and we would do something about it.

"Now we are in that ungoverned space, the strange men and some strange women are exploiting the internet as the old-time pervert used to exploit opportunities to get close to vulnerable young people."

Sir Norman added that Facebook should follow other social networking sites such as Bebo and MSN and install a panic button linked to the Child and Online Protection Centre (CEOP).

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He said: "Out of all the millions the social networking sites are making they could invest some of that into self-policing and self-regulation.

"The other opportunity that follows from tragedy is for parents and guardians to learn of the dangers.

"Do you know the websites that your teenagers are accessing, and do you sit down with them and talk about the dangers?"

Leeds North West MP Greg Mulholland, a Facebook user, said: "Anything we can do to make it safer and prevent another tragedy like the one that befell Ashleigh Hall can only be a good thing.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"Currently there is not enough in my opinion to protect the millions of young people using Facebook from the disgusting individuals who would seek to take advantage of them."

Home Secretary Mr Johnson said Facebook chiefs had "no objection in principle" to installing the CEOP button on the website.

The issue will be discussed next month at a meeting between representatives from Facebook and CEOP, Mr Johnson added.

A Facebook spokesman confirmed the company is considering adding the button, as well a link to an anti-bullying site.

He said the company had given Mr Johnson more details about its current "robust reporting system" and was exploring ways to improve safety.