London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Oct 03, 2025

Shocking report claims as many as 850,000 pedophiles active in the UK, possibly more

Shocking report claims as many as 850,000 pedophiles active in the UK, possibly more

There may be 850,000 child sex offenders lurking in the UK, a new report claims. The number is three times higher than previously thought, but may still fall short of the true scale of the threat.

In its annual National Strategic Assessment, the National Crime Agency (NCA) stated last year that there were 300,000 individuals in the UK who posed “a sexual threat to children.” While 35,000 were being managed by law enforcement, the remainder were active online, on the so-called ‘dark web’, the report elaborated.

This year, the numbers have been revised upwards dramatically. Using a new methodology that the NCA claims better captures the number of sex offenders active online, the organization estimated that anythere between 550,000 and 850,000 offenders may be based in the UK. Of these potential threats, just under 75,000 have been “marked” by law enforcement.


The NCA researchers said that their methodology should be treated with “moderate confidence.” If the upper estimate is correct, however, one in 77 people in the UK could pose a threat to children.

Their offenses fill a broad spectrum, “from downloading and sharing indecent images of children to direct contact abuse,” the report reads.

Yet the true scale of the problem may be even larger. The report notes that the final figure excludes “non-UK offenders targeting UK victims,” and “peer-on-peer” offenders, meaning minors who abuse other minors.

With the majority of offenders lurking online, the NCA cited encryption as the main hurdle faced by law enforcement in tracking down and apprehending child sex criminals. Facebook’s plans to introduce end-to-end encryption of its messages would benefit sex offenders, the NCA claimed, citing the example of David Wilson, a “prolific online offender” charged last year with 96 sexual offenses against boys as young as five.

Wilson created fake identities on Facebook, posing as teenage girls to lure victims into sending lewd images, and blackmailing some of his victims with these images. Evidence turned over by Facebook, including some 250,000 messages, were instrumental in sending Wilson to prison for 25 years.

The NCA warned that encryption would make such prosecutions more difficult, and would “mean other offenders like Wilson would go undetected.”

The anti-encryption theme continued throughout the report, with secure messaging identified as a key tool of organized criminals of all stripes, from human traffickers to fraudsters to drug dealers. Cryptocurrency was also named as a commonly-used money laundering mechanism.

That law enforcement would oppose encryption is no surprise. However, any government attempts to outlaw the practice would face stiff opposition from civil liberties groups, who often cite the importance of encryption to journalists, whistleblowers and activists.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×