A COUNCIL has admitted new guidelines make it “difficult” to protect all children at risk of sexual exploitation.

Darlington Borough Council’s children and young people scrutiny committee heard there were 30 referrals of child sexual exploitation CSE in 2016, with two of those identified as high risk cases.

The government has recently changed the definition of CSE to include forms which occur through the use of technology, meaning a case does not always have to involve physical contact.

The new definition also states a victim may have been sexually exploited even if the sexual activity appears consensual.

Darlington Council confirmed the majority of the 30 referrals centred around activity on social media.

Jane Kochanowski, assistant director of child services, said it had proved to be hard to protect those who are “sexting”.

“That is the challenge for the local authority.

“We are working with Barnardos and schools also need to play an important role.”

The report showed children aged between 13 and 17 were at the greatest risk of CSE, but some as young as nine had been referred in the last year.

Ms Kochanowski added: “It is frightening to see sexting going on in schools, especially how young some of the children are that are doing this.

“It is hard to get the message across to some of the victims because they think it is their fault and that is not the case.”

Jean Langthorne, family support manager, said the council was looking to increase its CSE Champions in schools – a member of staff who receives training from Barnardo’s and offers advice to others in the school.

She also promised to make the training a “priority” for the first few months of the year, after first suggesting it would not be completed till next year.

“We have been holding awareness sessions in secondary schools already and throughout 2017, we want all schools to receive some form of awareness training.

Cllr Chris Taylor, chair of the committee, said “We are not catching all the people at risk in Darlington, but this is the most comprehensive work that has been done,

“It would be wrong to the use the word positive in this context, but we are heading in the right direction.”