Girl was ‘hounded’ to send images of herself

A MOTHER has warned of the dangers facing children online after her daughter was groomed and blackmailed into sending intimate images of herself.

The woman – who was given the alias Claire to protect her daughter’s identity – said she was only made aware of the exploitation of her child around two years after it occurred.

Gardaí arrived at her door and informed her that intimate images of her child, given the alias Jane, had been shared online.

“They explained how they came into the possession of another person’s mobile phone after complaints had been made about this person regarding what he had been sharing online,” Claire told RTÉ’s ‘Liveline’.

“Through the complaint my daughter was one of the images that had been shared. I froze, the images were of an intimate nature.

“They said she was the victim in this instance of sharing child pornography.”

It then emerged that Jane had met a man online and they began communicating, a ‘trust’ of sorts was built up and the man began “hounding” Jane for images of herself. Images were sent and as a result Jane was blackmailed into sending more.

Claire warned other parents to be aware of the risk to their children. “I wouldn’t say it’s all blackmail, our kids are sharing images amongst themselves and they don’t know who they’re sharing them with.”