More abuse victims being groomed online, says Barnardo's Anne Marie Carrie, Barnardo's chief executive, said: "The number of children we work with rose, yet we are still not seeing the urgency of action we would expect for such an horrific crime. We have been campaigning for more help for these vulnerable girls and boys for a year now and we will not let it slide. Too many children from all walks of life can so quickly be caught up in a world of drugs, violence and sex - this is a sickening slur on our society and we must do all we can to end it. The charity's new report, a survey of its 21 specialist surveys around Britain, found that the number of sexually exploited children it is working with has risen by 8.4 per cent in 2010-11 to reach 1,190. Most grooming takes place in private or in places such as cafes and parks, and 9 out of 10 victims are girls, with almost half of them having run away from home. Increasing numbers of victims are exploited by people their own age - or even younger - who either abuse them themselves or bring them to abusers. The report states it is "not surprising" that exploitation takes place "over the internet, through mobile phones, online gaming and instant messaging," given the central role of technology in young people's lives. However, the services reported that the scale of online and mobile abuse has markedly increased even since 2010. Almost all services reported it as an increasing priority, and some have identified that the majority of their service users were initially groomed via social networking sites and mobile technology. One manager said: "I hear of young people who post inappropriate pictures of themselves on the internet through the encouragement of others." Barnardo's wants schools to be told not to delete explicit images they find on pupils" phones, in case they could be used as evidence in court cases. The report says only 57 adults were found guilty of sexual exploitation offences in England and Wales in 2010. It notes 40 recent cases involving children it has worked with, 12 of which involved internet grooming. Eight led to convictions. However Barnardo's says the conviction rate is still "concerning," and claims the "invasive" nature of court cases can be "traumatic" for young victims. It comes after the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre claimed paedophiles are using Twitter to discuss abuse and post links to child pornography images. Facebook came under pressure to instal a 'panic button' so young users could alert police if they find a paedophile posing as a teenager.