Sextortion targeting UK children increased by 66% in the past year, with boys aged 14 to 17 making up 97% of confirmed cases. The Internet Watch Foundation’s Report Remove data for 2025 shows 394 sextortion cases, a 34% rise on the previous year, and a new threat has emerged, criminals are now scraping ordinary school photos, running them through AI tools to manufacture fake nude images, and using those images to blackmail children and schools.
I spent eight years in digital forensics investigating CSAM cases. What strikes me about this data is not just the numbers, it’s the shift in who is vulnerable and why. Sextortion used to require a child to have shared something first. That is no longer true. Any child with a photo online can become a target, worse, the predators know it.
This post breaks down what sextortion is, how deepfake sextortion works in practice, what the KCSIE 2026 changes mean for schools and what parents and Designated Safeguarding Leads should do right now.
What is sextortion, and why are boys the main targets?
Sextortion is blackmail. A predator obtains or creates compromising images of a child, then threatens to share those images unless the child pays money, sends more images, or meets in person. The IWF’s 2025 data confirms what frontline professionals have been seeing for years, boys are overwhelmingly the targets. Of 394 confirmed sextortion cases reported through Report Remove last year, 97% involved boys.1
Why boys? Part of it is targeting strategy. Criminal networks, including the 764 network that has been linked to coordinated sextortion campaigns, know that boys are less likely to talk to parents about sexual content, less likely to report, and more likely to comply with demands out of shame. That silence is exactly what predators thrive on and exploit.
The age profile is consistent, children aged 14 to 17 are most likely to feature in reports. But the IWF also recorded a sextortion report from a child in the 7 to 10 age group in 2025. This is not a problem confined to older teenagers. It is reaching younger children and the methods are getting more sophisticated as the technology evolves.
How deepfake sextortion actually works
If you are a parent or teacher who has not encountered deepfake sextortion before, here is how it works in practice.
A predator finds a photo of a child. That photo might come from a school website, a parent’s social media account, or a public sports club page. It does not need to be revealing. A normal school photo, fully clothed, is now enough.
The predator uploads that photo to an AI tool, sometimes called a “nudify” app or deep nude generator. Within 30 seconds, the tool produces a set of images where the child appears naked, in fabricated sexual positions. The images are fake, but they look real. Under UK law, they are classified as child sexual abuse material regardless of how they were created.2
The predator then contacts the child directly, or the school, with a demand. Pay money or we release these images to your friends, your family, your classmates. The child, confronted with what looks like a real photo of themselves, often has no idea the image was manufactured.
Late last year, an unnamed UK secondary school received exactly this kind of demand. Criminals had scraped photos from the school’s public channels, generated deepfake CSAM of pupils, and threatened to release the images unless payment was made. The IWF classified 150 of those images as illegal under UK law.3
Safeguarding minister Jess Phillips described it as a “deeply worrying emerging threat.” I would go further. This is the threat that makes every other form of online safety advice partially obsolete. We used to tell children, “Don’t share nudes.” That remains good advice. But it is no longer sufficient. A child who has never shared anything can still become a victim if their photo exists anywhere online.
Why this changes everything about “stranger danger” online
Parents often assume sextortion happens to children who are “looking for trouble” online, sharing nudes recklessly, seeking out risky conversations. That assumption was never entirely accurate, but it is now dangerously wrong.
The evolution of AI means that sextortion, bullying, and harassment no longer rely on a child sharing risky images. Predators and bullies can take any normal picture and turn it into leverage. This is something the 764 network uses extensively as part of their playbook.4
That school sports team photo you liked on Facebook? That could be the source image. The class photo on the school website? That could be the source image. The holiday snap you shared publicly because you were proud of your kids? That could be the source image.
This is why the practice of “sharenting,” parents sharing photos of their children on social media, has become even more risky in the current climate. I am not saying never post a photo of your child. I am saying be aware of what is now possible and make informed choices about privacy settings, tagging, and what stays public.
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What KCSIE 2026 actually says about AI and deepfakes
Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026 came into force on 1 September 2026. It contains the most significant updates on AI that the guidance has ever included.
For the first time, KCSIE explicitly states that images may be “digitally altered or wholly generated using artificial intelligence, including what are sometimes described as ‘deepfakes’ or ‘deep nudes’.”5 This is now part of the formal definition of nudes and semi-nudes. A deepfake image of a child is treated with the same seriousness as a real image. There is no loophole for “but it was AI-generated.”
The guidance also flags generative AI applications as a contact risk. Chatbots that simulate conversation, some of which are designed to groom or manipulate, are now treated the same way as strangers in a chat room. If a child is interacting with an AI that encourages harmful behaviour, that falls within the safeguarding framework.
Schools are now required to review their filtering and monitoring effectiveness at least once every academic year. That annual review must include how well existing systems detect or prevent AI-generated content.
Does this give schools what they need? The honest answer is that regulations always lag behind technology. By the time guidance is published, the threat has usually evolved. But I always say that the foundations matter. Rather than naming something specific, KCSIE 2026 sets patterns that teachers and parents need to be aware of. The way images are created may be evolving, but the practice of sextortion remains the same, obtain leverage, apply pressure and exploit silence.
What parents should do this week
If you have read this far and want to act rather than just worry, here are three things to do before the end of this week.
First, have the conversation. Talk to your children about the fact that this exists. Not everybody is using AI for positive reasons. Even if they do everything right and never share pictures, it is possible they could find themselves in an awkward position. The most important message, it is not the end of the world and it is something you can face together as a team.
Boys in particular need to hear that home is a safe space with no judgement. The data shows boys are targeted precisely because they are less likely to speak up. If your son knows he can come to you without shame, he is far less likely to comply with a predator’s demands and far more likely to escape the situation early.
Second, review your own sharing habits. Look at your social media privacy settings. Consider what photos of your children are publicly visible. You do not need to delete everything, but you do need to make an informed choice about what stays public.
Third, know that help exists. If AI deepfakes of your child appear online, Childline’s Report Remove service can help get them taken down. You do not have to deal with this alone.
What DSLs should do this week
If you are a Designated Safeguarding Lead, here are three priorities for this week.
First, audit your school’s online presence. Look at your website, your social media channels, your publicly accessible photo galleries. Are pupil images necessary for public view? Can they be anonymised, removed, or placed behind a login? The authorities are urging schools to remove or anonymise pupil images and tighten online privacy settings.
Second, update your staff training. Make sure your next safeguarding session covers AI-generated imagery, deepfake sextortion and the risks posed by chatbots. Staff need to know what to look for and how to respond if a child discloses. KCSIE 2026 gives you the framework. Use it.
Third, schedule your filtering and monitoring review. Under KCSIE 2026, this must happen at least once every academic year. If you have not done it yet this term, put it in the calendar. Check whether your existing systems can detect or flag AI-generated content and document the outcome.
The conversation that matters most
I spent too many years looking at evidence I cannot unsee. What I know, from all of that time, is this, communication is the single most protective factor a child can have.
Children who know what sextortion is, who understand that deepfakes exist, and who believe they can come to a trusted adult without judgement are far harder to exploit. The predator’s entire model depends on shame and silence. Break that model, and you break their power.
Talk to the children in your life. Let them know that if it happens, you will face it together. That single conversation could be the thing that stops them from becoming another statistic or part of the evidence.
As always, thank you for your support. Please share this across your social media, and if you do have any comments, questions, or concerns, then feel free to reach out to me via the Social page, as I am always happy to spend some time helping to protect children online.
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Internet Watch Foundation, “Report Remove Data 2025,” published 2025. Accessed September 2026. Data covers reports received through the Report Remove helpline for children and young people. Note: Figures are self-reported and may not capture all cases.
Internet Watch Foundation and National Crime Agency briefing on deepfake CSAM, 2025. Accessed September 2026. Under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 and related legislation, AI-generated images depicting child sexual abuse are classified as illegal.
Internet Watch Foundation, press release on deepfake blackmail incident involving UK secondary school, late 2025. Accessed September 2026. School name withheld for safeguarding reasons.
National Crime Agency intelligence on the 764 network and coordinated sextortion tactics, 2024-2025. Accessed September 2026. Note: Operational details remain limited due to ongoing investigations.
Department for Education, “Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026,” statutory guidance for schools and colleges in England, in force 1 September 2026. Accessed September 2026.
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