There was public outrage at the sentencing of rapist James Taylor last year. He was jailed for five years for the rape of a 13-month-old child and distribution of images of the rape over the internet. But while the headlines and debate concentrated on the apparent leniency of his sentence, the coverage neglected the fate of the children involved.

The case shows what is missing from the public debate on child pornography. Two years ago, it was reported that, of the 750,000 images of child pornography seized in the Wonderland case, only 1,263 different children had been identified. No more than 18 of these children had been tracked, and just three were said to be receiving treatment.

Knowing that a record of their sexual abuse exists, children used in pornography feel helplessness, humiliation and shame. They also live with the knowledge that the images can be endlessly circulated on the internet and used to groom other children and entice them into the same abuse.

Children whose abuse has been recorded find it especially difficult to come forward. The visual "proof" of their apparent complicity and enjoyment is used as an extra weapon to enforce their silence. Disclosure is more likely to be forced on the child by an investigation than to come from the child.

All these complexities will have significant implications for treatment. Are children confronted with a photo of their abuse more likely to benefit from treatment than those who come forward for help? Their sense of powerlessness and shame can only get worse.

Arguably, one of the most effective treatments for a child is to see their abusers successfully prosecuted and the removal of any materials in which they have been forced to feature. We are already struggling with sophisticated encryption technology to prosecute those distributing and marketing child pornography but as a nation we must urge the IT industry to devise ways to destroy the images of abuse.

Hardly a week goes by without some fresh police operation drawing attention to images of child abuse on the internet. We urgently need to provide long-term support and treatment for children abused in this way and to concentrate our efforts on destroying the images. Knowing that their public humiliation could be tackled in this way might go some way to removing the stigma of their abuse and assist in their recovery.

Susan Creighton is a senior research officer at the NSPCC.