Since 2010, the police have received 20 reports of child grooming, with ten cases ending up in court, data tabled in Parliament shows.

The information was provided by Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri in response to a parliamentary question by Nationalist MP Graziella Attard Previ.

She asked how many child grooming cases had been reported to the Cyber Crime Unit between 2010 and 2022, and how many had been prosecuted.

Camilleri explained that the Cyber Crime Unit does not investigate such cases but helps other police sections in doing so when its assistance is required.

He said the police force has received 20 reports of child grooming since 2020, and has prosecuted in 10 cases. Two people have been found guilty. There are 8 pending cases in the courts and there is also an ongoing police investigation.

There were nine instances where the reports did not lead to court action, presumably due to lack of evidence or because they were disproved.

The highest number of child grooming reports was recorded in 2019, with 7 reports lodged. One report has been filed so far this year.