Greene urges government to keep a record of online sextortion offences

Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP Jamie Greene has today called on the Scottish Government to ensure that the police record how many sextortion offences take place online.

His call comes after Justice Secretary Angela Constance MSP conceded in a response to a written parliamentary question that:

"Whilst statistics are available on the number of people prosecuted and convicted for both Threats and Extortion and Threatening to disclose an intimate image, these do not specifically identify cases that happened online and may include non-sextortion type incidents."

Mr Greene said:

"I was shocked to discover that no data exists for exactly how many sextortion cases have taken place online in Scotland.

"More and more of our lives are taking place on the internet and with that new types of offences are coming to the fore. It's important that our justice system keeps up with this changing world.

"Whether online offenders are motivated by financial gain, sexual exploitation or malicious control, we need to ensure that support is there for victims and that resources are directed effectively to tackle these horrendous crimes.

"I want to urge Police Scotland and the Scottish Government to record data on online sextortion cases so that we can begin to understand how frequently these cases are taking place and put in the place the right measures to help victims."