This should be in every school and every youth group in the country. A more advanced version in middle and high schools, Scout groups, church youth groups, and anywhere children are gathered would be great.
School pioneers scheme to prevent child sex abuse
A programme that aims to educate pupils about child sexual abuse is "helping to stop the silence" on the issue, according to children's charity the NSPCC.
Ernesettle Community School in Plymouth the first in the South West to adopt the Together For Childhood programme, which the charity said had also been rolled out to other community groups.
It has been running a pilot project in Ernesettle for five years involving regular conversations with pupils and their families about personal boundaries, and it said it now had links to 125 groups.
Shelley Shaw, development manager at the NSPCC, said the initiative was helping "normalise talking about healthy relationships".
The charity said the programme was an evidence-informed approach to bring families and local groups together to make the community safer for children.
It includes Plymouth City Council, the Plymouth Safeguarding Children's Partnership, police, health, community groups, fellow charities and the voluntary sector.
Other schools taking part are located in Grimsby and Stoke-on-Trent, said the NSPCC.
At Ernesettle, children have been introduced to a fictional character called Pantosaurus from an early age.
Prevent harm
They learn how Pantosaurus says "no" to inappropriate touching and how he can tell a "safe" adult if he is concerned.
All teachers at the school are trained in how to spot the signs of abuse, said the charity.
Ms Shaw said the programme was "groundbreaking, nationally and internationally".
"What's been really great is that we've normalised talking about healthy relationships and... that's helped stop the silence on talking about child sex abuse.
"Now we've got our published evaluation and evidence we can start sharing that so that across the country we can prevent 500,000 children that get sexually abused every year from being harmed."
'Feeling empowered'
Paige Pink, assistant head teacher at Ernesettle Community School, said: "I think the most special part about Ernesettle is the positive relationships that we have with others in the community.
"That's when we see children and families really opening up and feeling empowered."
Jody, a parent at the school, welcomed the approach.
"It's just incredible, like teaching children how to stay safe, and how to keep their private parts to themselves, to speak up if they need to, to somebody who they feel safe with, and for people to come in and educate our children at school all about keeping safe."
The NSPCC's Together for Childhood programme is due to be rolled out to other schools in Plymouth.
If you have been affected by any of the issues in this story you can find information and support on BBC Action Line.
How street sex workers are helping police stop child abuse
WARNING: This article contains details of a sexual nature and child sex abuse. If you have been affected by anything in this story, help can be found at the BBC Action line.
As darkness falls, street sex workers are helping police and a charity to protect a city's most at-risk children.
Often the eyes and ears after dark, the women have been providing vital information on child exploitation to the Night Light initiative in Bristol and helping to bring child sex offenders to justice.
"If you think there's a chance you're leaving a child in that position, you've got to stay. You've got to find out."
Anna, whose real identity the BBC is protecting, is in her 50s and worked on the streets of Bristol over a 30-year period. She says she is now "retired", but has been key to the success of a unique project helping to put dangerous criminals in prison.
On one occasion a man, who was paying her for sex, asked her to engage in role-play, where she had to pretend to be a primary school age girl.
"It was really unpleasant. Sickening to be honest," she said.
"I had to carry on for three months, but I couldn't walk away until I knew what was happening."
After reporting her concerns to the police, it turned out the man was abusing his eight-year-old daughter.
Anna testified against him in court and he has now been sent to prison.
In another case, a man showed her child abuse photos on his phone so horrific she could not watch but reported him to the authorities and he is now awaiting trial.
"You can't not do something about that," she said.
"I see that kid's face every time I shut my eyes."
The sex workers are not only helping to catch child abusers, but also helping to identify children at risk of exploitation and get underage girls off the streets.
"The streets are scary. They are dark, they are lonely," Megan, not her real name, said.
"For underage women, like just so young, children, to be going through whatever they are going through, wherever they are, I can't bear to imagine."
Megan is one of those working with Avon and Somerset Police and children's charity Barnardo's Night Light team - providing them with vital intelligence about the children she sees after dark.
"My hectic day-to-day lifestyle [as a sex worker] is troubling, exhausting, and very miserable, to just have that little bit of positivity brought through something I have achieved and done personally, is great. It makes me feel proud," she said.
Night Light started in 2020 during the Covid lockdowns.
The streets had become quieter, exposing the children who were at risk of being exploited, hanging around in the part of Bristol where sex is bought and sold.
Paige, not her real name, was vulnerable and just 15 when she was spotted with her sister. She told the BBC that at the time, she wasn't aware of the danger she could be in.
"We were out because we didn't want to be at home, as we thought being out at night was safer than home," Paige said.
Forced on to the street she was approached by men being "nice", offering her food, drinks or lifts and getting into their cars.
"I didn't think I was at risk, but looking back now I see things a lot differently," she said.
Paige and her sister initially ran away from the Night Light team on at least two occasions.
But identified as being at risk of sexual exploitation, the team eventually caught up with her and explained the danger she was in. Paige has now been placed in a foster home.
Now 19, Yas - not her real name - has also been helped by the team.
"They [men] would ask me if I wanted go to their place and if I want any drink or like they'd offer me balloons [nitrous oxide]," she said.
"Back then I couldn't see why they were asking that. I thought they just wanted to have fun, in like the innocent way, but now I've realised they were probably asking me to go back so that I would have sex with them."
Now supported by Night Light, Yas said thinking about the situation she was in makes her feel "creeped out" and scared for other young people.
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The potential and benefits of using street sex workers
Seven Isle of Wight paedophiles who
appeared in court during April 2025
Seven Isle of Wight paedophiles appeared in court during April 2025, with three jailed and others waiting to be sentenced.
The County Press has looked back at these cases, the details behind the charges, the court proceedings and any sentences handed down.
Below is a roundup of Island child sex offender cases heard in April.
1. Nicholas Phipps
Nicholas Phipps of Ventnor (Image: Hampshire and IW Constabulary)
Nicholas Phipps, of Trinity Road, Ventnor, was jailed for 20 months on April 10 after more than 8,000 sex abuse images of children were found on his laptop and hard drives.
The 69-year-old was caught in possession of 558 Category A images of children – the worst kind – 1,134 Category B and 7,048 Category C.
Phipps’ laptop and two hard drives were discovered hidden under his mattress by officers, and a further six drives were found in a chest of drawers.
The pensioner admitted the offences, telling officers “he couldn’t stop himself” and would look “at any kind of porn he could get his hands on."
The IW Crown Court heard that Phipps was sentenced for gross indecency with a boy in 2001, grooming of a boy in 2016, and indecent image offences in 1996, 2017 and 2018.
2. Keith Matthews
Keith Matthews of Wootton (Image: Hampshire and IW Constabulary)
Keith Matthews, of Mary Rose Avenue, Wootton, was jailed for 18 years for sexually assaulting three children between 1994 and 2012.
The 71-year-old’s victims were aged between eight and 15 years old.
The offences came to light after a sexual abuse report was made to police in July 2022.
Further investigations revealed two other women had also been abused by Matthews when they were aged under 18.
After a 13-day trial at the IW Crown Court, Matthews was found guilty of indecent assault, engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child, rape, assault by penetration, and sexual assault.
Further information for victims of sexual abuse
The police want to encourage anyone who has been affected by child sexual abuse to contact them on 101, where they can speak to an officer in confidence.
3. Adrian Stone
Adrian Stone of Newport (Image: Hampshire and IW Constabulary)
Adrian Stone, of Horsebridge Hill, Newport, was jailed after he drove an underage girl to a secluded location and sexually assaulted her.
The court heard how Stone made contact with a girl under the age of 16 and suggested they go fishing together before picking her up in his car unsupervised and without her parents’ consent.
Stone continued to contact the girl after the assault, but she subsequently disclosed the assaults to friends and family.
Stone was arrested and initially denied everything under interview.
He continued to deny the sexual assaults but soon admitted these when he appeared in court.
Appearing at the IW Crown Court for sentencing on April 3, the 58-year-old was jailed for eight years – but he will only serve four in custody.
4. Joshua Walker
Stafford Crown Court (Image: Google Maps)
Joshua Walker, of Wyatts Lane, Cowes, will be sentenced next month after he admitted possession of extreme pornography and child sex abuse images.
The 24-year-old admitted six charges at Stafford Crown Court on April 11.
The court heard he was found in possession of six still and two moving Category A images, 47 Category B images, and 353 Category C images.
Walker was also in possession of extreme pornographic images, namely three explicit images involving an animal and 30 prohibited images of a child.
Walker’s case was adjourned to June 30 at the same venue for sentencing.
5. Christopher Kennedy
The IW Crown Court (Image: IWCP)
Christopher Kennedy, of Milne Way, Newport, was spared immediate custody after admitting to sexually assaulting a girl from the age of seven when he was in his teens in the late 1990s.
Now 42, Kennedy would have been between the ages of 15 and 16 and his victim between seven and nine at the time of the offences.
At his sentencing on April 4 at the IW Crown Court, the prosecutor said Kennedy touched the girl "over and under her clothing" and, on one occasion, caused her to touch his genitals.
His victim had suppressed the assaults but remembered them during therapy in 2020.
The sentencing judge, David Melville, handed Kennedy 16 months custody suspended for two years.
6. Logan Robinson
Logan Robinson leaving the Isle of Wight law courts (Image: IWCP)
Logan Robinson, of Nelson Road, Newport, will be sentenced next month after being caught with a hoard of child sex abuse images.
The 25-year-old admitted multiple indecent image charges at the IW Magistrates’ Court on April 22.
After police arrested him getting off a bus, Robinson confessed under interview that what he did was wrong, but he “couldn’t help himself.”
In total, he was caught distributing at least six indecent images of children via social media and in possession of 523 Category A images, 661 Category B images, 679 Category C images, and 620 prohibited images.
Robinson’s case, which has a starting point of three years’ custody, was adjourned to June 10 at the IW Crown Court.
7. Nelson Whitesmith
Nelson Whitesmith outside the Isle of Wight law courts (Image: IWCP)
Nelson Whitesman, of Spanners Close, Chale Green, will also be sentenced next month after being caught with thousands of child sex abuse images, as well as extreme pornography featuring animals.
The 55-year-old was in possession of 185 Category A images of children, 202 Category B images, 3,689 Category C images, and 697 still and moving extreme pornography images.
The offences were committed between May 2007 and December 2023, with the court being told Whitesmith expressed surprise at how long it took police to arrest him.
At the IW Magistrates’ Court on April 1, the prosecutor said some of the children depicted in Whitesmith’s images were as young as five.
Whitesmith will be sentenced on June 13.
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