Children aged five carrying out sex abuse seen on social media

CHILDREN as young as five are increasingly “perpetrating sexual abuse” because of what they see on social media, charities are claiming.

Growing numbers of primary school pupils are exhibiting “harmful sexual behaviour” as a result of the internet – with others groomed in their bedrooms via live broadcasts, they said.

One charity, Barnardo’s, said children were now becoming perpetrators as well as victims. And in evidence to MPS, the charity highlighted a growth in “live grooming”, with parents oblivious to what was going on in their children’s bedrooms.

Experts said middle-class parents had no idea that their children were being coerced into stripping for strangers, which was live-streamed globally for harvesting by paedophilic websites.

The Commons science and technology committee is being urged to call for regulation of such sites, with moderation of live broadcasts, and measures to stop children putting inappropriate material online.

The inquiry into the impact of social media and screen use on young people’s health comes as The Daily Telegraph’s Duty of Care campaign calls on social media to protect children from harm. Barnardo’s said three quarters of referrals for sexual abuse of children were internet-related – a rise from 20 per cent in three years.

Emily Cherry, its assistant director, said young children were also becoming perpetrators: “Children are perpetrating sex abuse against other children,” she told MPS.

“We are seeing children come through the doors at younger ages, below the age of criminal responsibility. We see children as young as five and an increase in the number of children aged eight to 10.

“They tell us they are on social media sites… and harmful sexual behaviour is definitely growing.” She said children were being

coaxed into “streaming” sexually explicit images of themselves online.

Ms Cherry called for robust age verification systems to stop children accessing sites where they could meet potential groomers, and live moderation of sites that stream in real time.

She warned parents to take care with allowing children access to the internet without supervision. “It’s like allowing a child to have a film crew in their bedroom,” she said.

She added that a failure to intervene could lead to problems as they grow up. “If we don’t help children understand what is wrong, that can lead to more serious behaviour in later life,” she said.

The Internet Watch Foundation said self-generated child sex abuse – usually the result of coercion – had soared nearly 400 per cent in just one year.

Facebook and Twitter said they had “zero tolerance” policies in place for child sexual exploitation, and safety on live-streaming sites was a “top priority”.