Satanic cult and terrorists grooming kids as young as 10 through video games
View 3 ImagesBritish children as young as 10 are being dragged into the dark world of terrorism (stock pic)(Image: Jie Zhao/Corbis via Getty Images)
British children as young as 10 are being dragged into the dark world of terrorism and a sinister "satanic" cult through online video games. Top security chiefs have issued a chilling warning that extremists are actively grooming vulnerable youngsters on gaming and chatting platforms, with kids now making up a staggering one in five terror suspects arrested across the UK.
Among the most horrifying threats is "764" - a twisted online network described by investigators as a satanic cult.
Members of the sick group are accused of targeting young children, blackmailing them into sending explicit photos and forcing them to self-harm.
View 3 ImagesThe terrifying scale of the crisis was exposed by Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor(Image: PA)
The terrifying scale of the crisis was exposed by Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, the UK's head of counter-terrorism policing, during a meeting of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance.
He told the Telegraph: "We arrested 40 children for terrorism related offences in the UK. That is one in five of our arrests. Ten years ago that was one in 20.
"We have 10-year-olds in our Prevent programme. There are some really worrying statistics and it is incumbent on all of us – and it is not unique to the United Kingdom – to do everything we can to tackle that."
View 3 ImagesExtremists are actively grooming vulnerable youngsters on gaming and chatting platforms (stock image)(Image: PA)
Prevent is the UK Government's official scheme designed to stop vulnerable people from being radicalised and drawn into terrorism.
Alarmingly, nearly 3,000 people referred to the programme revealed they had been groomed while using online gaming networks. Mr Taylor warned that the age of those involved in terror, violent and sexual offences is plummeting.
This grim reality was backed up by National Crime Agency (NCA) boss Graeme Biggar, who revealed that investigators are dealing with cases involving kids as young as eight.
Mr Biggar said: "We are seeing children appear in our casework at younger and younger ages. We had a case come across our desk this week of 8-year-olds being groomed online through gaming platforms. Sadly, that is not unusual.
"We had to arrest, sadly, a 15-year-old a few weeks ago for attempting to import a firearm. We have trials under way, or starting soon, into people who are alleged to have committed cyber offences who were teenagers when they were doing it.
"The vast majority of the time this is children as victims, but we are also seeing it as perpetrators, and those ages are getting younger and younger and we have multiple examples of that happening."
The NCA chief also dropped the bombshell that vile monsters are ditching the dark web to operate on the open internet instead, using it to secure even greater anonymity.
Article continues belowAccording to shocking NCA figures, police cuff around 1,000 suspected internet perverts every single month in the UK, sparking urgent new fears over the digital dangers facing British children.