The number of sickening internet sites showing the most severe forms of child sex abuse has quadrupled in just three years, according to a new report.
The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) said 29% of the web pages reported to it last year showed children being raped or youngsters forced to suffer sadism or bestiality. This compared with just 7% in 2003.
The IWF, which is funded by the telecommunications industry, also showed the number of reports of child sex images on the internet was up 34% overall to just under 32,000.
Of those, the group found 10,656 web pages across 3,077 sites contained illegal child abuse content, while nearly 60% of all commercial child abuse websites now sell child rape images.
For the first time, it revealed that more than nine out of 10 victims in the vile images reported by the public appeared to be under 12 years of age, and 80% were female.
The figures appeared to show the severity of online child abuse content is increasing.
IWF chief executive Peter Robbins said: "Sadly, we have to report new trends regarding the young age of the child victims in the images we assess and the dreadful severity of abuse they are suffering."
He added: "The UK has virtually eradicated the hosting of potentially illegal online child abuse content within its virtual borders."
More than 80% of child sex abuse sites are hosted in the US and Russia, up from 67% last year.
