NINETY-ONE cases involving victims aged between 10 and 18. Eighteen investigations closed with no suspect identified. And just two cases were recorded as charged.
Those are the stark figures emerging from Dorset Police data obtained by the Dorset Gazette under the Freedom of Information Act.
The figures relate to reports of image-based abuse recorded by Dorset Police and contained within the force's 2026 disclosure on image-based abuse.
The cases involve some of the most serious offences facing children and young people — including indecent images of children and the sharing or threatening to share intimate photographs or films.
And the figures raise serious questions about how many offenders are ultimately identified and brought before the courts.
18 cases. No suspect identified.
Of the 91 cases involving victims aged 10 to 18, Dorset Police recorded 18 investigations as complete with no suspect identified.
That means almost one in five — 19.8 per cent — ended without police identifying a suspect.
The data also records further cases where victims declined to support police action or withdrew their support.
Just TWO charged
The figure that stands out most starkly is the number of cases recorded as “Charged”.
Two out of 91 cases. That is approximately 2.2 per cent of the cases involving victims aged 10 to 18 contained in the spreadsheet.
The Dorset Gazette stresses that this does not mean the remaining cases were all “failed prosecutions”.
The police data records a range of outcomes, including investigations where no suspect could be identified, evidential difficulties, victims withdrawing support, cases where another agency had responsibility and cases where police concluded that prosecution was not in the public interest.
But the figures nevertheless paint a stark picture.
The scale of the problem
The Dorset Police disclosure shows that during the period examined, the force recorded:
• 32 cases involving victims aged 10–18 relating to indecent images of children.
• 58 cases involving victims aged 10–18 relating to sharing or threatening to share intimate photographs or films.
• 1 case involving a victim aged 10–18 relating to voyeurism.
When the suspect is known — but there is still no charge
The spreadsheet also reveals cases where police recorded a named suspect but the investigation did not proceed to a charge
.
• 18 cases where police recorded that continuing the investigation was not in the public interest.
• 13 cases where a victim declined or withdrew support despite a named suspect being identified.
• 7 cases where the victim supported the investigation but evidential difficulties were recorded.
• 9 cases where diversionary, educational or intervention activity had taken place and police considered there was no public interest in continuing.
• 9 cases where another agency had investigation primacy.
The Dorset Gazette is not suggesting that police should prosecute every reported offence regardless of the evidence. Nor do these figures establish that an offender was responsible in every case.
But they do raise a legitimate public-interest question:
Are enough offenders being identified and prosecuted when
children are the victims?
A digital crime with real-world victims Image-based abuse can happen within seconds. An image can be copied, forwarded, uploaded and
redistributed far beyond the control of the person pictured.
For a child or young person, the consequences can extend far beyond the original offence.
Yet Dorset Police's own figures show that a significant proportion of investigations do not end with an identified suspect. And only a very small proportion of the 91 cases examined resulted in a recorded
charge.
The Dorset Gazette believes the public deserves greater transparency
The force's FOI response provides the numbers. Now the Dorset Gazette wants the answers behind them.