MORE than 10 primary school children have been accused of sexual offences in Worcestershire schools in less than four years.
West Mercia Police recorded that 13 children under the age of 10 were suspected of such crimes from January 2022 to September 2025.
Meanwhile, 99 children aged 10 to 14 were accused of sexual offences at schools in the same period.
This was the age group with the highest recorded number of suspects, even higher than each adult age group.
The total number of suspects was as follows:
It was not specified whether adult suspects were members of school staff.
The figures, obtained through a Freedom of Information request by Worcester News, show that 249 sexual offences were reported to have taken place in schools during this period, with the majority taking place in secondary schools.
There has been a slight downward trend, with 71 offences reported in 2022, 70 in 2023, 67 in 2024. There were 41 reported incidents from January to September this year.
There was a wide range of offences, including inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, 'upskirting' and rape.
The most commonly reported sexual offence in schools within the time period was sexual assault, totalling 161 - including 48, in which the victim was under the age of 13.
West Mercia Police said that some cases were historic.
A spokesperson said: "It's important to acknowledge the data within context and to understand not all of these offences are physical sexual offences.
"Many relate to non-recent sex abuse and non-contact sexual offences, such as lewd gestures or sharing indecent images. In many cases the victim and suspect were both children.
"There will be offences where there are multiple suspects and offences where there are no suspects and therefore the data cannot be matched.
"Being a victim of a sexual offence is incredibly damaging and West Mercia Police take all reports extremely seriously, regardless of when they happened and we continue to work in partnership with local schools and colleges to engage with pupils and staff through our safer neighbourhood teams.
"We will continue to work closely with local authorities to ensure any safeguarding concerns are addressed."