THE number of Scots seeking help to deal with a child porn addiction almost doubled in a month following the launch of an awareness campaign.
Child protection charity, Stop it Now! Scotland, said more than 250 people accessed their website in June, up from134 people the month before after it began publicising its work.
Those accessing its website were either seeking help for themselves or to help control the behaviour of a loved one, the charity said. One user said it would be "disastrous" to try and go it alone without help.
Stop it Now! Scotland’s National Manager, Stuart Allardyce, said: “There are people out there who will get help to stop, but they need to know the help is there in the first place.
"We know this because we have worked with thousands of men over the years to help them understand the harm done to children by viewing online sexual images of under 18s, and to put in place measures that stop them looking at such images again.
"Many of them say they would have been less likely to start looking regularly at such images if they had only known sooner about the help that’s available to stop."
Last year more than 1,500 people from Scotland visited the charity’s website to get help to address their attraction to online sexual images of children.
Detective Chief Inspector Martin Maclean of Edinburgh's Public Protection Unit added: “Our Public Protection Unit and Police Scotland's specialist Cyber Crime Unit continue to use all the resources at their disposal to detect people involved in accessing indecent images of children, both online and elsewhere.
"We also work in partnership with social work and health as well as a number of other agencies to protect children and prevent child abuse. It's encouraging to see a greater awareness of the support Stop It Now! Scotland can offer.
"I urge anyone having inappropriate thoughts about children or thoughts about accessing inappropriate material online to get help. This campaign is focused on prevention to help individuals avoid the serious consequences they will otherwise face if they act on these thoughts."
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