80,000 people in UK pose sexual threat to children online, Home Secretary to warn

In a leaked copy of a speech to be made at the London headquarters of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), Javid will outline his "personal mission" to tackle child abuse, the Press Association said.

The Home Secretary is expected to tell the children's charity that the full horror of the scale and evolving nature of child sexual abuse was brought home to him by detectives at the National Crime Agency, the news agency said.

"One officer I met, who had previously worked in counter-terrorism for over 20 years, told me how in all his years of working he's never been so shocked by the scale of the threat or the determination of the offenders as he is in his current job," Javid will say, according to the Press Association report.

The news agency reported that referrals of child abuse images to the National Crime Agency have surged by 700% over the last five years.

Susie Hargreaves, chief executive of the Internet Watch Foundation, told the Press Association that the organization "recognizes the evolving threat of child sexual abuse online and the problems highlighted by the Home Secretary, in particular live streaming, encryption and grooming."

She pointed out, however, that the UK "remains one of the most hostile places in the world to host this disturbing material."

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