One of the biggest increases was in sexual communication with a child.
There was more than 30 incidents reported last year, compared with just one the year before.
There were also 11 reports of rapes of a child under 13, when there were none the previous year, seven reports of sexual assaults of a child, and 12 of sexual touching of a child.
Overall there were 107 reports involving children, compared with 49 the year before.
In most cases the charges refer to a child as someone under 13, although some relate to young people under 16 or under 17.
The details were released in the 2024 Bailiwick of Guernsey Law Enforcement annual report.
Police said that some of the complaints were likely to be historic.
A spokesman said there were a small number of cases involving under-18s, where an initial victim report initiated an investigation, which then identified a number of other victims.
‘This has increased the number of offences involving under-18s in that year,’ he said.
‘We would like to reassure the public that all of these cases were thoroughly investigated to ensure that offenders faced charges for the full extent of their offending.
‘We will continue to rigorously pursue offenders of this nature, and it remains a priority for Guernsey Police. Education is an important example of where we are collectively tackling offending among young people.’
There was a nearly 50% increase last year across all sexual offences, with more than 200 reported.
There were nearly 70 sexual assaults and 39 rapes reported, compared with 54 and 34 the year before.
Police said they were working with partners across the States and the third sector to increase public confidence in the approach to sexual offence investigations.
‘We have and continue to see offenders being brought to justice for historic and recent crimes,’ he said.
‘We therefore expect to see an increase in the number of offences reported to police and expect this trend to continue over the next few years as we further roll out our plan to address violence against women and girls.
‘Generally speaking, we see an increase in the number of sexual offences recorded as an increase in the number of people coming forward and reporting offences, rather than an increase in offending itself.’
He said that such offences were often under-reported, and ‘strongly encouraged’ victims to speak to police.
‘That way we can investigate the crime and bring offenders in front of the courts. These cases act as a strong deterrent to other offenders and continue to build confidence in reporting matters to the police at the earliest opportunity.’
Unusually the head of law enforcement was not available to talk about the report with the media yesterday. The current head, Damian Kitchen, took on the role at the end of last year after the retirement of Ruari Hardy.
The policing priorities and objectives for 2025 and beyond will be set out in the 2025-8 Service Delivery Plan, due to be published during September.
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