The figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act for 2009/10 revealed an eight per cent increase on the previous year when the figure stood at 21,618. Most of the cases concerned children aged 12 to 15, but more than 1,000 victims were pre-school age and one in four was aged 11 or under.
As with previous years, girls were around six times more likely to be sexually assaulted than boys, with more than 20,000 female victims recorded. Police forces recorded 9,636 suspects of sex offences against children, of these 23 per cent were under the age of 18.
Jon Brown, the NSPCC's lead on child sex abuse, said: "Thousands of people come forward every year to report sex crimes against children. But many victims are too young to ask for help. Others are too scared to tell anyone about their suffering until years later.
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