Rise in children sharing abuse images

THE number of children being referred to young offenders programmes for sharing child abuse images trebled last year.

A report by the Garda Youth Diversion and Crime Prevention Bureau revealed that the number of children being referred to it for offences related to child abuse images rose from 21 in 2016 to 59 last year. The programme offers 12 to 17-year-olds deemed ‘at risk’ of remaining in the justice system a caution instead of going to court in a bid to divert young offenders from criminality.

Of the 59 referrals, 18 involved the illegal possession or distribution of abusive or exploitative images of children, while 20 involved consensual sharing of personal images with other children which were then shared online. Nine cases involved non-consensual images being taken of a child which were then shared online. Many children sharing images did not know it was illegal.

The report also showed that of the 20,006 children referred to the youth diversion programme last year 400 had committed sexual offences. A Justice Department spokesman said: ‘Sexual exploitation of a child is a serious offence and the law in this area reflects the need to protect children from this kind of abuse.’ They stressed that the law on sexual offences is kept under review and updated to include advances in technology and communications.