Young increasingly encounter grooming and sextortion, Cork Childline service says

“Every day in Cork, we have one teenager in distress over something that has happened online.” She said this includes bullying, sextortion and online grooming.

"When I started volunteering around eight years ago, I had very few interactions around online bullying. But every year, I have seen this grow.” 

Sextortion and grooming are big issues, she added. “Teenage boys think they are talking to a beautiful young girl, and they send photos and are then blackmailed for money."

However, one of her biggest concerns is how girls are being groomed online by men who are much older than them.

She said: “Unfortunately, we see a lot of online grooming — a lot of teenage girls who feel they are head over heels in love with men in their 30s. They are talking about running away and leaving Ireland (with them).” 

Ms O’Sullivan said a lot of young girls think they have made genuine friends with people online and believe themselves to have fallen in love with them, only to realise weeks into the correspondence that the person they are chatting with is much older.

Among the key traits of someone engaging in online grooming are a desire to keep the communication a secret, a request to move to a more private platform, and requests for personal images.

The Cork branch of the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC) is currently seeking volunteers for its Childline service for Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays.

Volunteers are being sought for four hours a week, and training will be provided. The Childline service is run from ISPCC’s office on Penrose Wharf in Cork City. Those interested in volunteering can contact Regina on 087 9860347 or on volunteerrecruitment@ispcc.ie.

Last year, a new computer game designed to spot the key signs of online grooming was developed to be rolled out for in-class teaching. The game was designed under the Grosafe project in a partnership between the ISPCC and TU (Technological University) Dublin, funded by Research Ireland. It has been trialled in several schools.

Earlier this year, members of the Oireachtas Children’s Committee were told by Assistant Garda Commissioner Angela Willis that gardaí identified 16 children in Ireland last year who were suspected of being victims of online exploitation and harm. She said the force had identified 151 children worldwide.

Last month, the Irish internet watchdog Hotline.ie published its annual report for 2025, showing that a total of 61,317 reports were processed by it last year. The reports included child sexual abuse material, child grooming and intimate image abuse.