Children responsible for harmful sexual offences are too often being treated as "mini sex offenders", according to a new report.

The conclusions of a parliamentary report, supported by the charity Barnardo's, found they should instead be treated as children "first and foremost" and not unnecessarily criminalised.

The report also said children who sexually abuse other children have often already been subject to abuse and trauma themselves.

It added: "Children make mistakes as they start to understand their sexuality and experiment with it.

"These children are unlikely to pose further risk to the public, given appropriate support, but unnecessarily criminalising or stigmatising them as a 'sex offender' at such a young age makes it more likely that they will struggle to regain a normal life, and increases their propensity to re-offend".

Although public protection should always remain the "primary driver" when dealing with cases - a criminal justice response is almost inevitable in most serious cases - the report added all those in this situation must receive "high quality therapeutic support".

We must remember that many children who show harmful sexual behaviour have experienced or witnessed physical, emotional or sexual abuse as well as neglect and can be extremely vulnerable. Javed Khan, Barnardo's Chief Executive

There is no definitive data on the scale of the issue, but figures released following a Freedom of Information request suggested that more than 4,200 children and young people were reported as perpetrators of sexual abuse in 2013/14.