Paedophiles using dating apps to groom women and access children, warns report

Key Points

Two thirds of men who have sexually offended against children use dating sites
Report shares new insights into predator behaviour online
Offenders may appear trustworthy, as they are more likely to have a child in their house, work with children, and have a higher education level
Researchers uncover telltale clues that could act as red flags

Paedophiles are using dating apps and may be trying to gain access to children through their parents, a report has warned.

Women looking for love online are being warned that two-thirds of men who have sexually offended against children use dating platforms and could be grooming them to gain access to their kids.

The report from the Childlight Global Child Safety Institute and co-led by the University of Edinburgh found that offenders are four times more likely to use dating sites than other men – with over one in five offenders using dating apps daily.

Childlight said these “sinister” statistics show that single mothers on dating sites are being put “at risk”.

Lawmakers are being urged to introduce stronger regulation of matchmaking apps – including ID checks and AI tools to help detect predatory behaviour.

“Child sexual exploitation and abuse is a global public health emergency that requires emergency measures, but it’s preventable,” said Debi Fry, Childlight’s global director of data and a professor of international child protection research.

“We must mobilise globally, focusing not just on reactive law enforcement but on prevention strategies tackling underlying determinants of abuse — including financial and technological ecosystems sustaining it.”

Scots lorry driver manipulated mums on dating apps to abuse kids

Childlight’s report comes just five months after Scottish lorry driver Paul Stewart was jailed for manipulating single mothers via dating apps to gain access to their children for sexual abuse.

A court in Dundee heard how he formed relationships with women he met online so he could abuse and photograph their children and send the images to a network of paedophiles.

The court heard he abused one young girl during a sleepover with her friend and took indecent images of an 11-month-old baby to share on the dark web.

He was jailed for three and a half years last December.

However, Childlight said these situations could be avoided – or at least reduced – with ID checks and protection measures on dating apps.

“Our findings provide clear evidence that dating apps lack adequate child protection measures, and loopholes are exploited by abusers to target single parents and their children,” report co-author Professor Michael Salter said.

Mr Salter said there’s no reason why ID methods used in industries like banking and gambling should not be adopted by dating app platforms.

He added that there’s a range of AI tools and systems that can flag problematic words and conversations that “can and should be used”.

Childlight’s research also shares many new insights into perpetrator behaviour online.

It found offenders may appear trustworthy, as they are more likely to have a child in their house, work with children, and have a higher education level.

Researchers also found “telltale clues” that could act as red flags for financial institutions and police.

These include that men who have committed sexual offences against children engage more frequently in certain online activities, like online shopping, dating and gaming. They are also more likely to own and use cryptocurrency and to buy sexual content online.