More child abuse is carried out by family members and other children than by grooming gangs, according to a new police task force.
The government set up the task force last year to tackle what Prime Minister Rishi Sunak dubbed “evil grooming gangs”.
However, fewer than one in five (19%) of the cases it has investigated so far involve networks of offenders.
The figures show that 27% of cases involved family members, and 22% were abused by other children.
When he announced the new task force in April 2023, Mr Sunak said: “For too long, political correctness has stopped us from weeding out vile criminals who prey on children and young women.”
The government said the task force would involve “parachuting in” officers with “extensive experience of undertaking grooming gang investigations”.