According to figures obtained from all 43 police forces in England and Wales, police recorded 21,618 sex offences against under-18s in 2008/9, an average of 60 sex offences every day.
One in seven of the children were younger than 10 and 1,000 were five and under. In more than three out of four cases the offences were committed against 10- to 17-year-olds. Girls were six times more likely than boys to be the victim of a sex crime, and the number of incidents where the offender knew the victim was four times higher than those involving strangers.
An NSPCC spokeswoman said the figures would include instances of sex between consenting under-16s because underage sex is an offence.
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