327 cases of online abuse of children last year

Almost 330 cases of online child abuse were confirmed last year by the expert monitoring group Hotline.ie.

In its annual report, to be published today, the internet safety watchdog says it dealt with a total of 3,153 reports of online child abuse imagery — the second-largest number of reports received in a year since its establishment in 1999.

Despite a 35% decrease in overall reporting when compared to 2014, the proportion of confirmed cases of child sexual abuse imagery to suspected cases reported was 4% higher last year.