Creeps approaching young girls on social media

Sex creeps have found a disturbing new way to target young girls without raising any suspicion from parents.

Schoolgirls across Melbourne are being approached to share intimate images over the internet.

Students at a number of schools — both private and public — have received unsolicited requests through social media to provide images of themselves.

Victoria Police has been made aware of the activity, with officers staging school visits which teach students how to protect themselves from online creeps.

They typically befriend the girls before asking for lewd images.

Southern Metro Region Acting Inspector Andrew Kerr told the Herald Sun: “While it is important to educate students and parents on the risks of sharing intimate images, our message to perpetrators is that they may be engaging in illegal activity, and if caught, they face serious consequences.”

“We understand that having intimate images shared without consent can have long lasting impacts on individuals, and that is why Victoria Police take image-based abuse very seriously, and every report will be thoroughly investigated,’’ Inspector Kerr said.

“We encourage any person whose explicit image has been shared without their consent to report to police.

Sex creeps are approaching young girls on social media

“We will listen to any report of this nature, without judgment, and will provide the appropriate referrals to support services for victims.”

Police — whose visits to deliver safety alerts in the last week have included secondary students in bayside Melbourne — are working with schools and parents to act on any concerns.
Students are being urged to ignore the requests.

It’s understood many young people are sending photographs that constitute child pornography but are unaware or oblivious to the types of offences they are committing.

The crimes are especially concerning to Victoria Police because of how quickly an image can spread online and then be viewed by many people who were not intended to see it.

The images are also incredibly difficult to remove once on the internet.

Police say teens can’t be sure the person they’re speaking to online is who they say they are or are well-intended.

When an incident is reported Victoria Police establishes if an offence has been committed and whether it can act under state or federal law.

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Originally published as Creeps approaching young girls on social media