Children must be protected from exploitation, says Barnardo's

Some children are even being "advertised" online using indecent photographs taken at home, it said.

New videophone technology could lead to even more children being abused, a report released on Tuesday added.

It also raised fears that thousands of children photographed or filmed being abused would never be traced.

The report said the victims of the abuse, which was often carried out by relatives and friends, may not be traced because no single agency has the money or authority to find them.

We have the skills and the people to do the work, but we need to have greater investment Stuart Hyde, Association of Chief Police Officers Policing new technology

The Just One Click report from Barnardo's called for more government action to help trace the growing number of "forgotten children" of abuse via the internet.

A UK-wide survey by the charity of its own services found 83 children had been sexually abused via the internet or camera phones.

Of those, seven had been sold online to paedophiles and one had been abused live on the web.

Barnardo's project manager Wendy Shepherd said she thought the current level of child abuse on the web was only "the tip of the iceberg".

"There are many young people who are so fearful of what happened to them, they are not going to talk about that very easily," she told BBC Breakfast.

"Young people who are recovering from child sex abuse feel their recovery is hindered because they know these images are out there somewhere in the virtual world."

'Purchase'

Internet message boards and chat rooms are being used to sell children for sex and also promote when and where sex abuse can be watched live online, the charity reported.

"These internet sites also say 'how good a purchase' the child is by rating them from one to 10," it added.

"Evidence is emerging that children, sometimes very young, are being abused in this way by people well known to them - family members, friends of the family and trusted adults such as teachers or youth leaders."

Young people who are recovering from child sex abuse feel their recovery is hindered because they know these images are out there somewhere in the virtual world. Wendy Shepherd Barnardo's project manager

Barnardo's also warned of the new dangers posed to children by third generation mobile phone technology, which will enable them to access web sites and other internet services paedophiles might be using, away from the supervision of their carers.

It urged the government to establish a centre of excellence in the UK focusing on both finding the victims and providing specialist help for the specific needs of children abused via new technologies.

According to the report, those who deal with the few children who are traced have received little or no training in dealing with their specific needs.

The Home Office said it welcomed the report and would study it with interest.

A spokeswoman added: "We have put considerable resources into this area already and we are putting pressure on police forces to do much better on child protection."

She said Britain was working with other countries on tackling internet abuse and had provided equipment and expertise to those just "beginning to get to grips with the problem".