MORE reports of child abuse are being made to Notts Police than at any time over the last four years.
Figures show the force received 1,716 allegations of physical or sexual child abuse between March 2011 and April this year – an average of nearly five a day.
This is almost 500 more than the 1,244 made for the same period in 2007-8.
The numbers are recorded on the force's Child Abuse Investigation Unit's Case and Tasking Administration System.
They were revealed in a Freedom of Information Act request made by a member of the public.
Each annual total is the number of allegations made, regardless of whether anyone was charged or convicted.
A child protection charity said some people would find the totals "shocking".
A spokeswoman for the Lucy Faithful Foundation also said the rise was probably due to more people reporting abuse, rather than a rise in crimes.
She said: "We would not think this is happening because more abuse is taking place.
"It's probably happening because people are more aware of abuse. It's in the media a lot more now and in the forefront of people's minds.
"People are more confident about reporting things now than they were five or ten years ago. In terms of sexual abuse these figures will still just be the tip of the iceberg – there will be far more cases of abuse out there. This will just be a fraction of what's really occurring."
The figures also showed the number of allegations out of the totals where the accused was in a "position of trust" in relation to the victim.
A "person of trust" relationship includes situations where adults look after children under 18, for example teachers, social workers, carers and sports coaches.
Out of the 1,716 2011-12 abuse allegations, 108, or roughly one in 10, involved a relationship with a position of trust.
The trust spokeswoman added: "To some people, the figures will be shocking but there is a lot more abuse happening that is not reported that the police and social services don't know about.
"We need all adults to protect children before abuse even happens. The only way we can do that is for adults to know how to spot the warning signs that a child might be being abused.
"We have seen serious cases where a child has been abused and later someone says, 'actually I did think there might be something wrong but I didn't report it' or 'I didn't know what to do'."
In October the Post reported how more than 200,000 images of child abuse had been confiscated by Notts Police since 2010. The figures, released by the police following a Freedom of Information request, also revealed that 25 people were arrested last year in the county for taking, possessing or distributing indecent images of children.
ChildLine is a free 24-hour counselling service for children and young people available on 0800 1111.
The Lucy Faithful Foundation runs a website about how to recognise the signs a child could be being abused at www.parentsprotect.co.uk.
