Huge total of child sex abuse images

A WEB page showing a child being sexually abused is identified by a watchdog every eight minutes — with some victims younger than two years old.

The stark figure was revealed by the Internet Watch Foundation, which has identified and removed more than a quarter of a million URLs since it was launched 20 years ago today.

IWF chief executive Susie Hargreaves said: “What’s truly shocking is not always the numbers of reports to our hotline, but what is shown in those images and videos.

“Each and every one of those quarter of a million reports is the record of the sexual abuse of a child. The majority are under 10 years old. Some are younger than two.”

She added: “Images are created every day. No one knows exactly how many are out there.”