Staffordshire's child grooming crisis revealed

Eighty-eight arrests have been made and 100 warrants executed by police targeting predators in just nine months.

Police in the county set up a team last year to target those making, downloading and sharing indecent images of children.

Since then, the last nine months have seen an average of three homes a week raided.

Staffordshire Police has also confirmed there are more ongoing international investigations with links to the area.

It comes after a man in America was jailed for 30 years for grooming dozens of youngsters online including an 11-year-old girl in Stafford.

While the crackdown has produced clear results so far, it has shone a light on the true depths of the problem with online child exploitation in the county.

Tim Lee, digital forensic manager at the force, said: "It is obvious with the national coverage as well as cases in this area that it's quite severe certainly for Staffordshire Police.

"Downloading and sharing is a big problem but unfortunately we also identify cases of live abuse. But this operation has been a huge success so far. The main advantage is the rapid identification of indecent images which means we can safeguard victims so much earlier."

Central to the operation, which is codenamed Safenet, is the ability to scan electronic devices on-site with software that can detect indecent pictures within minutes.

So far 1,557 exhibits have been seized from mobile tablets to micro-SD cards, and a third, a total of 552, have come back 'positive'.

In April the operation saw its biggest result to date. An international investigation including the Staffordshire force resulted in 42-year-old serial groomer Blake Johnston, of Northern California, being put behind bars. Now the force has revealed there are other similar cases ongoing.

Mr Lee, added: "It certainly wasn't an isolated case. There are others which are ongoing but we cannot say anything specific about those at this stage."

Suspects from Cannock and Stafford are among the dozens arrested so far. More than 120 children have been removed from potentially abusive circumstances.

Parents in Staffordshire can find out more about how to keep their children safe online at www.knowaboutcse.co.uk