Meeting on child exploitation to be held

The open forum, which will run from 7.30-8.30pm, aims to raise awareness and to provide advice on spotting the signs.

Mr McIlveen has invited Jacqui Montgomery-Devlin, Manager of Barnardo’s NI Safe Choices which works in the area of child sexual exploitation, to give a presentation and answer questions.

He said: “Child sexual exploitation is a hidden crime which can be difficult to identify and can cause deep emotional and physical damage to its victims. I would encourage everyone to attend the meeting in the Braid, where we will learn how to spot the signs of child exploitation and how to protect our young people against this heinous crime.

“I have launched a campaign to tackle child sexual grooming and exploitation in the area because it is a serious form of child abuse and unfortunately I am only too aware that it affects young people in the local area.

“Shockingly, Barnardo’s report ‘Not A World Away’ revealed that one in nine 16-year-olds in Northern Ireland have been sexually groomed in some way and 61% had not told anyone about it. These figures are extremely worrying and we as a community need to work together to tackle this issue.”

He pointed out that anyone with concerns about a young person can contact Barnardo’s Safe Choices service Tel: 028 9065 851.