I'm innocent - but guilty!

We seem to have sort of lost the plot about this business of child grooming.  A 12-year-old girl was bombarded with requests from a paedophile to send him (we presume it was a him) nude pictures of herself.  Eventually she gave way and did so,  Her mother found out and informed the police.  So far, so nasty, but the mother has acted responsibly and hopefully the paedophile will eventually be found and brought to justice.  The girl is the victim here - yes?  Well, no, apparently.  The Protection of Children Act 1978 make it an offence to "take...show...or distribute" an indecent photograph of a child, which you would think was fair enough, but amazingly this applies even if the person taking, showing or distributing such a photograph is the child themselves,  So our 12-year-old girl has committed an offence, and potentially could end up with a criminal record.  The authorities have discretion as to whether or not to prosecute, but surely this cannot be right?  Is this just a case of bad drafting or of people not thinking things through - or am I not seeing the full picture?