The Lucy Faithfull Foundation's stark warning comes after its research found that increasing porn consumption among Britons is one of the most common routes to sex offending.
The charity said 275,000 people with concerns about their own or somebody else's sexual behaviour towards children sought its support last year - an increase of 26 per cent since 2023.
More than a quarter of the 3,400 people who contacted their helpline having already offended, or who were at risk of doing so, admitted to having ‘a problem with porn', with the charity adding the true number is likely to be even higher.
New research for the child protection charity has found that more than 40 per cent of UK adults now watch porn, with one in five watching it at least once a week, a poll of more than 2,500 people found.
Most concerningly a quarter of those say their consumption has become more frequent and 19 per cent say that the content they're watching has become more ‘aggressive or extreme' over time.
The research shows young men are most at risk of ‘developing an unhealthy relationship with porn'. One in five under-35s watch it daily and more than 40 per cent of men aged 25-34 say their porn habits have got in the way of day-to-day tasks.
Alastair Simpson, the National Police Chiefs' Council lead for child sexual abuse, said: ‘Online child abuse sadly continues to grow in prevalence and severity, enabled by new technology that makes accessing child abuse material increasingly easier.
Pornography is acting as a ‘gateway' to child sexual abuse with one in five Britons who watch adult films now viewing more ‘aggressive or extreme' content, a child protection charity has warned (file image)
The charity said 275,000 people with concerns about their own or somebody else's sexual behaviour towards children sought its support last year (file image)
‘Protecting children from harm is a responsibility we all share, and whilst policing works every day to target the most harmful criminals intent on abusing children online, we must see greater action from technology companies to regulate and control access to the content on their platforms.'
The Lucy Faithfull Foundation said more than 275,000 Brits sought support from its Stop It Now helpline services in 2024, up from 217,889 in 2023.
Dr Alexandra Bailey, head of psychology at the charity, said: ‘It may sound a bit extreme to suggest that escalating pornography habits can lead people to offending online and viewing child sexual abuse material, but sadly it's true.'
Dr Bailey, who is also an associate professor at the University of Roehampton, added: ‘We see people who go from watching legal pornography to watching more and more extreme content online.
‘In these instances, the individual builds a tolerance to the content they're watching, becoming desensitised to legal adult pornography, which leads them to seek out more extreme material to achieve the same level of gratification.'