A SPECIALIST unit tackling online grooming is reminding parents to ensure their children remain safe.

The figures released by Cleveland Police show that the force has intervened in 133 incidents between April 2014 and July 2015.

And a day after it was reported that a Darlington youth football coach faces jail for posing as a teenage girl to lure boys into sending him compromising images of themselves, parents are being advised to pay closer attention to their child's social media activity.

Daniel Burn – who coached children across the town – cloned the social media account of an unwitting young woman to encourage communication with young men, many underage.

Detective Constable Iain Pearson has put together a checklist of advice for parents to consider and key to this is ensuring your children are aware you want to check on their safety and talk openly to them about what applications are on their devices.

He said: “This type of crime is increasingly important – not just for this force but for all forces nationally as this type of criminal attempts to hide behind a veil of secrecy and pretence online.”

Detective Superintendent Alastair Simpson, who heads the department, said: “Only a couple of years ago the advice to parents was to ensure any computer equipment was used in a communal area and not tucked away in a bedroom.

"Today, with so many young people having access to social media on their own phones, this brings about a greater vulnerability for children and a greater burden for parents and carers to keep abreast of advancing technologies.

“This type of abuse could happen to any young or vulnerable person from any social background – and the perpetrators also come from all walks of life within our communities."

The force continues to raise awareness of child sexual exploitation, and offers young people, parents and carers, and others who work with children and young people, advice on identifying when exploitation may be taking place and how to report it.

‘In The Wrong Hands’ was a local campaign launched by the four Local Safeguarding Children Boards in Cleveland in May this year and was rolled out across secondary schools and community facilities to enlighten young people and parents on the dangers of child sexual exploitation and where to go for help.

Former top detective Mark Braithwaite, representing the Tees Independent Safeguarding Board chairmen added: “It is important to recognise the increasing use of social media and the online environment to groom children and young people for the purpose of exploitation, but equally important to stress that simple measures taken by young people and their parents / carers can significantly reduce these risks.”

The force is holding a Community Click Webchat on Monday, September 7 between 7pm and 8pm when people can put questions to DC Pearson and Mr Braithwaite about online child sexual exploitation.