A CHILDREN’S charity has warned the public about what constitutes an online crime.

To mark Tuesday’s Safer Internet Day, supported by North Yorkshire Police, NSPCC campaign manager Helen Westerman reminded the public that “behind every image of child abuse there is a victim, a real child that has suffered for the gratification of someone that child will most likely never meet”.

She said: “Despite what some offenders may think, it isn’t a passive crime. Every time someone views or downloads an image, they are fuelling an industry that ensures the abuse committed against the children in those photographs is perpetrated against others. If we don’t find a way of stopping these images from being made, this abuse could span generations.

“For the children who are abused for these pictures, they must live with the knowledge that images of them at their most vulnerable will be shared multiple times online. The trauma of this alone can be devastating.”

Making an indecent image can refer to making a copy - whether digital or in print form - of an image, so every time an image is opened, accessed, downloaded, stored or printed it is considered making an indecent image.

Police can charge anyone over the age of criminal responsibility for sending indecent images. We are increasingly seeing police charging under-18s with taking, making and sending indecent images.

*If you suspect someone is taking, making, sending, distributing or possessing indecent images, phone the NSPCC Helpline on 0808 8005000. Childline can be contacted on 0800 11 11 or at childline.org.uk.