Norfolk County OPP are urging parents and caregivers to speak to their children about the dangers of sending photographic messages.
This comes after the OPP was informed a local 12-year-old girl had shared sexually explicit pictures with an unknown individual.
They ask that parents and caregivers inform their children on the dangers of Self-Peer Exploitation, following an increase in the number of reports involving youth being requested to send sexually explicit images or videos of themselves over the internet.
Police are concerned about the safety of those involved, and hope to create greater awareness about the issue, and what can be done if a teen may be overwhelmed by the reality of their actions.
They emphasize that pictures can often end up somewhere they may not want them to be and hope that teens can realize the long, and short term dangers of sending out photographs of themselves.
Police ask parents to have honest and frank discussions with their kids, adding that the Canadian Centre for Child Protection (https://www.protectchildren.ca/en/), a national charitable organization dedicated to the personal safety of children, is a great resource for parents, educators, and teens themselves.
The Norfolk County OPP adds that anyone who is involved in the distribution of the sexually explicit material needs to be aware of the criminal ramifications of doing so.