MOSCOW (Sputnik) – "A significant number [of these children] come from secure, caring families but have been drawn into abusive and risky relationships through their online activities," the report said.
According to the research paper, British children as young as eight are being targeted by pedophiles on the Internet.
Earlier in the day, Barnardo’s released an Ipsos MORI poll commissioned by the organization, which showed that nearly half of young people living at home, 48 percent, claimed their parents had only a partial understanding of what they got up to online.
Moreover, 11 percent of teenagers said their parents understood nothing about their online activity, the poll found.
Among the websites and apps "most commonly identified as being linked to the sexual exploitation of young people" were Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, BBM, WhatsApp and Skype, according to the study.