Share In its National Strategic Assessment, the NCA said the rise was due to an increase in child pornography users during the pandemic combined with more children going online as schools shut. Offenders living with victims will also have had a greater opportunity to abuse during lockdowns. Mark Russell, chief executive of The Children's Society, said: 'Drastic action is needed to make the online world a safer one.' In the last year, more children were safeguarded than ever before, with nearly 10,000 children identified by police and the National Crime Agency in the first nine months of 2020/21 and more than 7,000 suspects arrested.