Japan's police agency said Thursday that 44.1 percent of the 2,053 offenders in child pornography-related criminal cases last year were aged between 14 and 19, nearly double the share in 2013.

A further 60 percent of the 905 people suspected of committing child porn crimes in the age group were high school students, according to revised data from the National Police Agency.

Those between the ages of 14 to 19 have accounted for over 40 percent of child porn suspects every year since 2019. The agency believes the increase is owing to the prevalence of smartphones and social media, and plans to create awareness campaigns on their appropriate usage.

There were 3,035 child pornography cases in Japan in 2022, up 66 from the previous year. The number of victims, all aged 17 or younger, increased by 29 from 2021 to 1,487, of whom around 80 percent were junior or senior high school students.

Approximately 40 percent of victims were tricked or threatened into sending nude photos of themselves through social media.

A total of 1,732 minors were victims of crimes committed via social media sites. Other than sexual crimes, the number of children who were victims of serious offenses such as abduction also continues to rise, with 158 involved in 2022.

Victims were targeted through social media posts, the majority of which were ostensibly about topics such as hobbies, daily life or looking for friends. Around 70 percent of the time, the first such posts were made by victims who were then approached by offenders.

People under the age of 20 involved in offenses punishable under the Penal Code in 2022 numbered 14,887, up by 69 from the previous year, the agency figures showed.

In 2021, the fewest number of offenses in the postwar period were committed by people under the age of 20, but a decreasing trend ended with the rebound in 2022.

The police agency believes that the increase in crimes was influenced by the easing of movement restrictions put in place due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The number of cannabis-related criminal suspects had been increasing in recent years, but fell by 82 to 912 in 2022.

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