A SENIOR police officer says a dedicated team of specialists is committed to tackling those who prey on children after a new anti-grooming law was brought in.

We reported yesterday how West Mercia Police has recorded 73 offences of sexual communication since April last year, 37 involving Facebook, Snapchat or Instagram.

Eight offences recorded by West Mercia involved victims aged 11 and under, with 48 involving victims aged 12 to 15.

More than 3,000 offences have been recorded in England and Wales in the first year since a new anti-grooming law came into force, with the youngest child targeted aged just five years old.

However, West Mercia has specialist officers tackling grooming across the force area, including in Worcestershire.

Detective Chief Inspector Rick Klair said: "West Mercia Police takes each reports of child sexual exploitation and grooming extremely seriously - in a world of social media and mobile phones young people can be vulnerable to those who trawl social media and gaming sites, preying on innocent children and exploiting their trust.

"In Worcestershire we have dedicated, specialist officers tackling grooming and people targeting children online. Youth engagement teams and safer schools officers work in schools with young people and teachers, helping to educate around online safety and healthy relationships.

"Protecting children is a priority for us and together with our partners we are determined to bring anyone to justice who is engaging in sexual communication with a child. We are equally concerned with the welfare of children already affected and continue to support those young people who have been have been brave enough to talk to us.

"We are committed to raising awareness across Worcestershire of child sexual exploitation through our campaign www.tell-someone.org".

The new crime of sexual communication with a child came into force on April 3, 2017 following an NSPCC campaign.

In the first year a total of 3,171 crimes were recorded by police – amounting to nine grooming offences per day.

Police revealed which methods groomers used in 2,097 instances, and records show Facebook was used in nearly 30 per cent of those cases, while Snapchat and Instagram were each used in around a fifth of cases.

Following the NSPCC’s #WildWestWeb campaign, Digital Secretary Matt Hancock announced that laws will be brought in to regulate social networks, to keep children safe and prevent harms such as grooming.

The charity is now campaigning to ensure those laws are sufficiently robust to prevent grooming and to truly keep children safe.