Police in Chatham-Kent are reporting the number of child abuse investigations almost doubled last year.
An annual report showed child abuse investigations went from 36 in 2020 to 68 in 2021 with most of the investigations for sexual assaults.
Police said 28 arrests were made last year, up from eight the previous year, resulting in 76 charges, which is an increase from 21 in 2020.
Police noted the overall child abuse numbers have remained consistent with statistics in 2018 and 2019.
Police also reported the Child Exploitation Unit changed the way it counts cases in 2021 to track specific child pornography cases only and not include several other online investigations that were previously included. However, the annual report showed that 14 arrests were still made, up from 11 the previous year and 48 charges were laid, an increase from 25.
Police also said two incidents with suspects from the U.S. were investigated last year and one of them was arrested in March in Washington State after they sent information to the Department of Homeland Security for follow-up.
Police also report 20 charges related to human trafficking were laid in Chatham-Kent last year.
The sex offender registry in Chatham-Kent also has 19 more sex offenders than it did in 2020, according to the annual report.
Police said the increase is due to offenders being released from jail or new offenders being convicted and moving into Chatham-Kent. Currently, police in Chatham-Kent have 286 male offenders and three female offenders on the registry.
Police said one offender is currently not compliant with their obligations under the law, but will be very soon. Police also reported four offenders were arrested and charged last year for not complying with their obligations under the law. Sex offenders must report to police every year.
Chatham-Kent police said it is consistently in the top tier of police services across Ontario for compliance and tracks offenders to locate and investigate them, if necessary.