Edinburgh primary school children added to Snapchat group by older men and sent 'sexual images'

An investigation has been launched after a group of primary school children in Edinburgh were added to a Snapchat group by older men who shared sexual images.

An email has been sent out to parents warning them of the “serious online safety issue” that has affected several pupils in P6 and P7 at the school.

The children were said to have been added to a group on Snapchat by “older unknown men” over the weekend who then began to share inappropriate and sexualised content.

Parents have been assured that if their child was in the group and viewed the material, that they would be contacted by the school in the coming days.

Class teachers and support staff have been made aware of the issue and will be supporting children through “supportive conversations”, the email added.

Any parent whose child has been victim to the incident has been urged to contact police themselves.

Chief Inspector Paul Gillespie said: “On Wednesday, May 1, 2024 we received a report of inappropriate images sent to children in Edinburgh.

“Enquiries are ongoing to establish the circumstances surrounding this matter.”

The incident comes just days after teachers across the country were sent an “unprecedented” alert urging them to warn pupils of the dangers of sextortion.

Sextortion often involves people being forced into paying money or meeting another financial demand, after an offender has threatened to release nude or semi-nude photos of them. This could be a real photo taken by the victim, or a fake image created of them by the offender.

Murray Dowey, 16, from Dunblane was contacted on social media by someone claiming to be a young girl but was actually a scammer, who tricked him into sending an intimate image and then blackmailed him with it.

Murray took his own life on December 30, 2023, just hours after he was blackmailed by the scammer.

The National Crime Agency issued advice on spotting the signs of abuse, supporting and encouraging young people affected to seek help.

The NCA said the number of global sextortion cases ported to the US National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) more than doubled in 2023.