The use of virtual reality headsets by paedophiles in England and Wales has been documented for the first time, according to police data obtained by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC).
The NSPCC obtained data through the Freedom of Information Act from police forces in England and Wales, and said 30,925 offences involving obscene images of children were reported in 2021–22, the highest number ever recorded and a 66 percent increase over the last five years.
In their report, the NSPCC said virtual reality technology was documented eight times by police forces in crime reports from those years. This is the first time such technology has been mentioned specifically.The NSPCC said Snapchat was now the app most commonly used to share child abuse images, a change from 2021 when Instagram was the app most frequently used by paedophiles.
