A 12-year-old girl who was pressured by an online paedophile into sending topless photos of herself has been told she could now face criminal charges.

Despite by groomed by the online predator, the schoolgirl is now facing a police investigation for sending an indecent image.

The sick pervert targeted his victim on Instagram and demanded increasingly more explicit images.

A 12-year-old girl who was pressured by an online paedophile into sending topless photos of herself has been told she could now face criminal charges for sending indecent images (stock)

However after sending a topless image of herself using an iPad she refused to send more, despite being bombarded with messages by the paedophile.

The girl's horrified mother alerted police and child protection agencies after making the harrowing discovery.

But while the man remains free it appears the girl will face a police probe for sending the image.

Her furious mother told the Mirror: 'She's the victim. She was coerced into sending it. There's a paedophile out there yet they're talking about criminalising a little girl.

'She's scared, upset, worrying about what is going to happen and I'm questioning if I did the right thing in reporting it.

'My child is a victim of grooming but now she might be branded a criminal. If this is happening it could put other parents off reporting abuse. How many people actually knew this was the law?'

The sick pervert targeted his victim on Instagram and demanded increasingly more explicit images. But while the man remains free it appears the girl will face a police probe for sending the image (stock image)

A spokesperson for the National Crime Agency said: 'The NCA always puts victim care and the safeguarding of children and young persons first and foremost. We work with police forces to ensure robust action is taken against individuals with a sexual interest in children and young persons.

'In this instance we understand the child sent an image of herself to another person. Creating or sharing explicit images of a child is illegal even if the person doing so is a child.

'If a young person is found creating or sharing images, the police must record a crime has been committed in line with Home Office Counting Rules and investigate the circumstances.

'Dependent upon those circumstances they have discretion not to take formal action if it isn't in the public interest to do so. Police are encouraged to take a common sense approach that does not criminalise children unnecessarily.'