'Online grooming was scariest moment of my life'

Warning: this story includes details of sexual abuse

Danielle was 14 when she was approached on a children's gaming website by a man who told her he was 16.

Now 28 and having waived her right to anonymity, Danielle said her abuser sounded "exactly as a child of my age would have and I didn't have any reason to believe otherwise".

After he persuaded Danielle to meet him in person, she said: "I got into the car, closed the door and before I knew it we were driving and I saw that he was not in fact 14 or 15 - he was a lot older."

In reality, he was three times her age.

The man drove Danielle to a remote location and raped her.

He also took intimate photos of her which he used to blackmail her, known as sextortion.

"He threatened me saying that if I told anyone my family would get hurt," she said.

"It was probably one of the scariest moments of my life. At that point, I didn't know what was going to happen. I was scared about school and people seeing them [the photos]. I was scared about my family."

After her third meeting with the man, Danielle's father found his messages on her phone and rang the police.

Her abuser was later jailed.

Danielle, who is from north Kent, is speaking out about her abuse to raise awareness of the dangers for children on social media platforms and push for a better experience for child victims of abuse in the criminal justice system.

She said: "Anyone with concerns should report them straight away.

"There is always help out there."

She said perpetrators of child sexual abuse were "very clever".

"They know exactly what they're doing," she said. "They will do their research on how children are talking at that time.

"They'll research the slang words that are going around and the latest trends."

In 2023, Kent Police recorded 286 cases of sextortion, up from 173 in 2022 and 125 in 2021.

Sussex Police recorded 512 cases in 2023 compared with 386 in 2022 and 229 in 2021.

Surrey Police recorded 322 cases in 2023, 161 in 2022 and 98 in 2021.

Hayley Garner, campaigns manager for the NSPCC, said: "Sextortion can really negatively affect a child's mental well-being.

"For some it causes feelings of shame, guilt, anxiety and fear and some have thought of self-harm and suicide."

Matthew Scott, Kent Police and Crime Commissioner, said child sexual exploitation was an emergency.

"We need to have a real conversation about social media use and mobile phone access for under 16s," he said.

If you, or someone you know, have been affected by any of the issues or topics covered in this story, you can visit BBC Action Line to find information and organisations that can help.

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