Teenagers who take part in innocent, "experimental" sexting with their peers shouldn't face a criminal record or be placed on a police database, a committee of MPs has said.
The report, from the All-Parliamentary Group for Children, calls for new rules whereby "low-level" criminal behaviour carried out by children is dealt with by welfare agencies instead of the police and the courts.
Police officers have complained that crime reporting standards mean they have no choice but to report activity such as sexting between peers as a crime. Officers often issue an "out-of-court disposal order" for low-risk crimes, which stay on a police database and are revealed later on if someone has a criminal records check in order to work with children.
Children over 10 who take or share a picture of themselves or others potentially face being arrested, charged, and even jailed under the Criminal Justice Act.
The report said:
Police, head teachers and other professionals have raised concerns that children and young people are being issued with out-of-court disposals simply for exhibiting behaviours associated with growing up or 'experimental' behaviour, such as sexting.
The report said one unnamed police force is developing a new strategy to deal with sexting whereby young people involved in innocent, "non-aggravated" sexting are automatically referred to a safeguarding referral unit, without the need for judicial intervention. The parliamentary group called for this approach to be adopted across the country.
In September a 14-year-old boy from the north of England was placed on a police database for sending compromising pictures of himself to a girl he knew via Snapchat.
In November a 17-year-old boy from York was jailed for 12 months for blackmailing two 14-year-old boys with naked pictures he'd been sent via Snapchat.
The report also called for an end to the unnecessary criminalisation of children in care.
Children who grow up in local authority care are three times more likely to be cautioned or convicted of a criminal offence, the report said, because police reporting rules automatically treat a call-out to a care home as a crime.
In one unnamed police force area, 47 children's homes generated 3,500 calls in 2014, the report claims.
In response, policing minister Mike Penning told the Press Association that accurate recording of crimes was "essential".
"We have been clear that the police must accurately record the crimes members of the public report to them – it is essential victims have confidence they will be taken seriously and their crime will be dealt with properly," he said.
"Even seemingly minor offences can involve significant harm to the victim, or be part of a long-running pattern of victimisation.
"If a member of the public reports any violent incident, the police must record it as such. Police officers can and should, however, exercise their discretion in the action they take once a crime has been reported."