Spike in North East sexual offences as new Northumbria police report probes the reasons why
Recorded sexual offences in the Northumbria area have increased as more cases emerge over sharing or threatening to share sexual images. The offence was identified under the 2023 Online Safety Act.
According to figures from the Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner’s annual report there has been a rise this year in sexual offences collectively. The report goes on to state the increase is in part attributed to new crime codes under new legislation relating to the sharing or threatening to share sexual images.
Sexual offences in general saw a rise between September 2024 and September 2025 from 5,265 to 6,021, an increase of 14%. However the largest increase over the same period was seen in “Other Sexual Offences”, which rose from 1,005 to 1,432, an increase of 42%.
The report states the 42% rise, “can be in part attributed to new crime codes introduced under the Online Offences Act 2023 relating to sharing and threatening to share images.”
Previous reporting by the Local Democracy Reporting service in August of this year explained that while it has been a criminal offence to share revenge porn images since 2015, it has only been an offence to threaten to share them since 2021.
The Revenue Porn Helpline also stated at the time that the Online Safety Act 2023 helped update earlier legislation. Figures from the Helpline also show a continual increase in reports since 2021.
The breakdown of reports to the organisation since 2021 is as follows:
2021: 4,4062022: 9,9332023:18,4212024:22,275
On Friday December 13, Parliament debated proposed legislation calling for the criminalisation of non-consensual deepfake legislation. The proposed bill also calls for the tackling of not just those who create such content but those who prompt or pay others to make it.