The internet can be a fantastic place for children and young people to connect with their friends, discover new things and be creative. However, ‘friends’ made online may not be who they say they are. This can be a difficult concept for children to understand.

Online grooming is the process by which an adult with an inappropriate sexual interest in children approaches a child online, with the intention of fostering a relationship with that child, so as to be able to meet them in person and intentionally cause harm.

Groomers are very skilled at what they do and can often befriend a child by appearing to have the same hobbies and interests as them. Using fake accounts and stock photos, they may also appear to be the same age as the child. Children can be flattered at first by the attention given to them by this new ‘online friend’ and if they engage, they are often asked to speak ‘more privately’ with the groomer, whether that be away from an online game, or a different social network. They even offer the child help within a game in order to receive card details of a family member. Often children may not be aware that they are being groomed.

In more recent years, children can be groomed online into sending sexually explicit photos or videos of themselves to these online groomers. In some cases, unless children send more material of themselves, groomers can threaten to make the material public. Alternatively, the motivation behind grooming can be for financial gain from the child or their family.