A man in his 20s has been arrested in Colchester on suspicion of a number of child sexual offences including sexual communication and inciting sexual activity.

Officers from Essex Police’s Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) Proactive Investigation Team executed a warrant at an address in Colchester at around 6.45am today.

A man in his 20s was arrested and electrical items were seized in part of an investigation into the grooming and sexual abuse of children in the north of the county.

Officers were assisted by the High Tech Crime Unit and the Operational Support Group and arrested the man on suspicion of a number of child sexual offences including sexual communication with a child and inciting sexual activity with a child.

He is currently in custody.

The CSE Proactive Investigation Team was formed earlier this year and deals with both reactive and proactive investigations that have been referred by partners or from other teams within Essex Police.

They take on both new and older referrals where conventional safeguarding tactics have been previously unsuccessful.

Detective Sergeant Ben Rushmere from the team said: “We are a dedicated team of detectives whose role is to target those suspects that hold the highest risk for exploiting children and young people.

“Our objective is to take on the most complex and difficult criminal investigations involving the sexual exploitation of children.

“Offenders can be individuals or organised groups, they could be using fake profiles to groom young people online, or befriending them and giving them money or alcohol.

“We use a variety of tactics to mitigate the threat they present.

“This includes reactive investigations responding to referrals from victims, families, and partners as well as those identified through proactive intelligence gathering.

“We will work with our partners to ensure there are bespoke care plans for victims which mean they don’t have to speak to us if they don’t want to, but mean they are given proper support, assistance and guidance by trained professionals from the many children’s charities we work alongside in Essex.

“To offenders I’ll say this – the nature of the tactics that are open to us are extensive and whether the children you exploit feel strong enough to give evidence against you or not we will be coming after you.

“Essex Police is determined to make Essex as safe as possible for our children and if you attempt to groom or exploit them we will target you at every opportunity.”

If you have any information or concerns about a child being groomed or exploited, please call Essex Police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.