Children and teenagers under 18 perpetrated an eye-popping 45 per cent of all sexual crimes recorded by the Gardaí in 2016, a report has found.

The figures in the Garda Juvenile Diversion Programme (GJDP) report show that 334 sexual offences involving juvenile offenders were reported in 2016. That figure represented a massive increase of 39 per cent on previous year’s figures and included 114 cases of rape and 21 cases involving child abuse images.

Clíona Saidléar, executive director of Rape Crisis Network Ireland, said she was appalled but not surprised by the figures. “They are a wake-up call to the fact that sexual offences are being committed by children. We can no longer turn a blind eye to the problem,” she said. The network has called for more research into the factors behind the increase as well as to examine how girls were viewed by boys.

Ms Saidléar said that the growing sexualisation of culture and the normalisation of pornography was a concern. “There must be a realisation that children can also be perpetrators as well as victims when it comes to sexual offences. What might have been classified as sexual experimentation in the past can constitute sexual abuse,” she said.