Police in England and Wales are drawing up new guidelines to avoid "criminalising" children who send sexually explicit videos and images to each other.
The new guidelines are being drafted by the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) and will advise professionals on when they should report incidents of so-called 'sexting' to the police.
Under current Home Office Counting Rules, parents and professionals can use their own judgment on whether they should involve the police.
If any party does choose to report an incident of ‘sexting’ to the police it must be recorded as a crime.
'Too draconian'
According to a Sunday Times report, complaints have been raised over the current system which has been described as "too draconian", and at risk of undermining a young person’s career prospects.
The report goes on to state that under the new guidelines MPs will give police officers the option of logging ‘sexting’ cases under a new "low-level crime-related behaviour category".
This will allow police officers to be informed of any 'sexting' incidents and pass on any such cases to counsellors and social workers without prosecuting any children involved.
The NPCC will advise professionals to take into account whether a child has been coerced into sending or receiving an image, the scale of nudity, the age of those involved and whether the child has previously been involved in a 'sexting' incident.
Adults who are found to be 'sexting' children will still face criminal charges.
Chief Constable Simon Bailey, the police chief in charge of all child sex abuse investigations in England and Wales, said that despite the new guidelines, children need to be made aware of the dangers of sexting.
"We have to be careful we do not send a message out to children that sexting is OK. Children need to understand that it is a criminal offence and that there are significant risks associated with it. We do not want to criminalise young people. We understand children are vulnerable."
Related News:
Growth in sexting among young children
Related Coverage:
New 'sexting' guidance 'to avoid criminalising children' (BBC)
Retreat on child sexting crimes (Sunday Times £)
Sexting and social media: Police will always try to avoid criminalising young people (NPCC)