A SHOCKED mother has warned of the dangers of social networking sites after she discovered a man asking for explicit pictures of her 13-year-old daughter.

The woman came across a message on her computer from a man asking her daughter to send him a topless picture of herself via her phone.

The mother found the man’s phone number and called him, then reported him to police.

Police discovered that the girl had initiated the “adult conversation” and the man broke off contact when he found she was just 13.

The incident, which happened to a Christchurch family, once again highlights the dangers of children offering personal information through networking sites such as Facebook.

The mother, 36, told the Echo she wants other parents to be on their guard and ensure privacy settings are in place.

“It was quite graphic,” she said of the man’s message.

“He was talking to her, she was talking a bit sexy. As a 13-year-old, she likes to think ‘I’m a grown-up woman’.

“She gave her mobile number which she knows not to do. He gave her his number first.

“She thought it was a friend from school.”

The mum-of-three said the only reason the teen probably didn’t send the photos was the phone did not have enough credit.

When confronted, the girl was embarrassed and got an “awful shock”.

The mum said community police officers visit the schools, but the message was not getting through.

“Parents should be aware of what they are doing and be able to get into their Facebooks and know how to get in.

“One of the conditions now is they are not to have anybody else on it – they have their mates from school and some of their mates’ mums, and that’s it.

“Otherwise I will get rid of their Facebooks completely.”

A Dorset Police spokesman said their investigation determined no offences were committed.

They urge parents to contact police if they have concerns and say children should never give personal details to people they did not know offline.

Alison Shelton, manager of LV=Streetwise safety centre, said they recently launched their “chatwise” game to address this sort of danger.

“There’s nothing inherently dangerous about the internet.

“But you have to make sure you know who you are talking to. You have to be very careful.

“This is exactly why we set up our ‘chatwise’ initiative – to show you don’t know who you’re talking to and to promote the Smart rules for internet safety.”

See chatwise.org.uk