PM to announce new laws to tackle the worst cases of child sexual exploitation online

A new law will seek to cover a loophole which means that paedophiles who ask children to send them explicit selfies online could face up to two years in prison.

The Prime Minister will say that paedophiles who ask youngsters aged under-16 to send sexual images are just as guilty as those who take pictures in person.

The new offence criminalising sexual communication with a child, which will be announced at a major summit on online abuse, follows a campaign led by the NSPCC highlighting the gap in the law.

Mr Cameron will say:

The Prime Minister will also tell the summit that the National Crime Agency (NCA) and other organisations will have new powers to help them track down paedophiles.

Although existing offences can be used to prosecute online paedophiles, experts have raised concerns that not all sexual content is covered.The new offence, which will carry a maximum two-year prison term, will be included in the Serious Crime Bill currently going through Parliament.It will cover behaviour such as

• talking about sex to a child in a chatroom

• sending sexually explicit text messages

• asking youngsters to send a provocative selfie

• or inviting a child to communicate in a sexual way

Another new offence in the Bill will also ban possession of any item that contains advice or guidance about sexually abusing children.