Police said reports come from children as young as 10, with cases peaking around the age of 14 [Image: Philip Toscano/PA].

But the story has raised public awareness of sexting – and, judging by the evidence below, that is a good thing:

The number of sexting cases involving children has more than doubled in two years, police figures have suggested, leading a senior officer to warn about deficiencies in proper sex education.

Simon Bailey, the National Police Chiefs Council’s lead officer on child protection also raised concerns about extreme pornography being shared among young people, and social media sites acting quickly to take down such material.

He spoke as police forces in England and Wales released data on Monday showing they registered 6,238 sexting offences in 2016/17 – a rate of 17 every day. That represented an increase of a third on the tally of 4,681 in the previous year and of 131% on 2014/15, when 2,700 cases were logged.

The data relates to recorded offences involving indecent or prohibited images of children, where the suspect or offender is younger than 18 years old. Police said reports come from children as young as 10, with cases peaking around the age of 14.

Boys are as likely as girls to be recorded as suspects or perpetrators but girls are more likely to be recorded as victims, according to the data. They also appear to show a substantial decrease in cases during the month of August, coinciding with the school holidays.

Source: Police report sharp rise in sexting cases involving children in England and Wales | Media | The Guardian

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