(Image: PA)
The number of children identified as being ‘at risk’ of criminal exploitation has more than doubled in four years.
The scale of exploitation concerns facing young people across Scotland can be revealed, with almost 2,000 children recorded by Police Scotland as being vulnerable to either criminal or sexual exploitation in the last year alone.
A total of 727 children were flagged as being at risk to criminal exploitation in 2025-26, up from 330 in 2022-23, according to figures released through freedom of information (FOI) requests.
Police Scotland also recorded 1,089 children as being vulnerable to sexual exploitation in 2025-26, meaning officers identified more than 1,800 young people in total who were at risk over the course of the year.
The data comes from Police Scotland’s Interim Vulnerable Persons Database (iVPD), which allows officers to apply child sexual exploitation (CSE) and child criminal exploitation (CCE) markers when they suspect exploitation may be a factor in a young person’s circumstances.
Concern over child exploitation has risen significantly in recent years, with the Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice (CYCJ) describing it as a form of “child abuse”.
The warnings follow a major review led by child protection expert Professor Alexis Jay last year.
It found that thousands of children across the UK are being targeted by criminal gangs.
Read more
- Scotland's blind spot on grooming gangs laid bare by watchdogs in damning report
- Scottish Government making 'limited impact' to stop child exploitation, says charity
- Glasgow child sex exploitation claims being investigated by police
- 'Huge victory for girls': Survivors force ministers to order grooming gang inquiry
A recent national review commissioned by Scottish ministers found there is currently no reliable picture of the scale of child criminal exploitation in Scotland because of gaps in data collection and recording.
Duncan Dunlop, children and young people spokesman for the Scottish Liberal Democrats, said: “These are worrying figures, showing persistent problems that are not going away.
“Criminals are constantly working on new ways to make exploitation pay. To face up to that we need well-funded police, social work and community support to ensure that no child slips under the radar.
“It is unacceptable as it indicates the safety net of the care system is failing.”
A new UK-wide child criminal exploitation offence will make it a criminal offence for adults to recruit, groom, coerce or facilitate a child’s involvement in criminal activity.
The legislation will also introduce child criminal exploitation prevention orders, allowing courts to impose restrictions on adults considered to pose a risk of exploiting children.
Read more
- Online child abuse is a 'national threat' say police as reports rise by nearly 6%
- More than 3,400 child sexual abuse image crimes in Scotland over five year period
- Children who run away at risk of sexual exploitation, care watchdog warns
Ranald McTaggert, deputy director of the CYCJ, told The Herald the rise in children considered to be at risk could be attributed to the increase in awareness.
He said: “However, practitioners do tell us at CYCJ that criminal child exploitation is on the rise and is continuously evolving in terms of methods of recruitment, types of criminality, and level of potential harm both to and from children who are being exploited.
“We firmly believe that it is vitally important for all adults to understand that criminal child exploitation is a form of child abuse, and as such should be responded to through child protection procedures rather than through criminalising children.”
The CYCJ has welcomed the new offence and prevention orders, arguing they provide additional tools to protect children while helping authorities target those responsible for exploiting them.
The organisation has also stressed that young people caught up in criminal exploitation should be treated primarily as victims of abuse rather than offenders.
Earlier this month, the Scottish Police Federation (SPF) raised concerns that adult criminals were enlisting children to carry out crimes.
Analysis of Police Scotland’s shoplifting statistics found that officers using stop-and-search powers caught 48 young people, including some as young as 12, between April and June this year.
The number of children caught in possession of stolen goods almost doubled in four years, from 104 in 2023-24 to 172 last year.
If the rest of 2026-27 continues at the rate it has started, then a predicted 200 incidents are expected to be recorded this year.
Detective Superintendent Stevie Bertram said tackling child exploitation was a “priority” for Police Scotland, adding: We listen and will investigate all reports made, ensuring we maintain a victim centred approach.
“Our response to tackling child exploitation must be a multi-agency response in order to protect vulnerable people. We continue to work with partner agencies to identify anyone at risk of exploitation to ensure potential victims receive any support needed and to bring those responsible to justice."
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: "Child exploitation is abhorrent and we are taking decisive action to ensure children are protected from harm, especially as the threats change in a digital world.
"We're tackling online harm and working closely with the UK Government on the commencement of new offences introduced through the Crime and Policing Act 2026, which will strengthen protections for children and tackle those who seek to exploit them.”
Around £26 million has also been invested over three years to work with young people at risk of exploitation.