September 17, 2026 - 169 views
North Wales Police has carried out a month-long operation warning young people and their families about the risks of sharing nude images online.
The force’s Online Child Abuse Investigation Team, known as OCAIT, carried out 56 visits during August to children and family members identified as having uploaded self-generated nude images to platforms including Snapchat, Discord and YouTube.
Police say sharing such images can leave young people vulnerable to grooming, blackmail and exploitation.
A small number of those visited had previously been targeted by online scammers, resulting in indecent material being shared online.
Officers provided parents and carers with support packs containing advice on how to talk to children about online safety and reduce the risk of them becoming victims.
Detective Inspector Sofiah Valentine said once an image is uploaded, it can be extremely difficult to control who sees it, how it is used or where it ends up.
She said open conversations between parents and young people about online activity could help prevent children becoming victims of grooming or blackmail.
As part of the operation, officers also carried out unannounced visits to people already under investigation for child sexual abuse material offences, checking that they were complying with bail conditions.
Police say those visits were additional to the OCAIT team's normal work, including pre-planned warrants and investigations.
The operation highlights the scale of the challenge facing parents as children increasingly use social media and online platforms to communicate and share content.
Police are encouraging parents and carers to take an interest in the platforms their children use and to have regular conversations about what they share online, rather than waiting until something goes wrong.
Advice on talking to children about online safety is available from the NSPCC and the Lucy Faithfull Foundation.
