ONLINE child sexual abuse could be “the next grooming crisis”, experts warn ministers.

Children are being groomed and coerced online in “astonishing numbers”, according to the Internet Watch Foundation. 

The charity runs the biggest hotline in Europe dedicated to finding and removing vile child sexual abuse material from the internet.

Derek Ray-Hill, Interim CEO, said: “We must not look back in years to come and say we did not know.

“The evidence is there. Children are being groomed and coerced online in astonishing numbers. 

“The images and videos of their sexual abuse – orchestrated by offenders who are sometimes hundreds of miles away – are shared like trading cards by communities of online offenders.

“This will be the next grooming crisis unless we all act now, as a society, to protect children from the dangers.”

It comes after a damning review laid bare the failings of the British state to stop the abuse of white girls by gangs of men of Pakistani origin.

The audit by Baroness Louise Casey quotes one police expert saying, “If Rotherham were to happen again today it would start online.”

Mr Ray-Hill added: “I worry that, even as we unpack this devastating scandal and its repercussions, another crisis is brewing.”

Earlier this month Sir Keir Starmer performed a U-turn and ordered a national inquiry into the grooming gangs scandal.

Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips told the Sun on Sunday: “Baroness Casey’s rapid audit exposed the horrifying abuse grooming gangs are inflicting on girls and young women. 

“We are accepting all the recommendations in the report, including on how sick perpetrators are increasingly grooming children online, and we will not hesitate to go further.

“We are alive to the latest online threats like the rise of ‘self-generated’ child sexual abuse imagery, which is highly disturbing, and we fully support the robust implementation of the Online Safety Act.

“We are also strengthening law enforcement’s response, using cutting-edge technology, intelligence and investigators to bring perpetrators of these horrific crimes to justice.”

The Government also recently introduced four new laws to crack down on online child sexual abuse.