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Police aware of Rotherham child sex grooming for years

September 24th, 2012 | by | Published in Bureau Notes, Bureau Reviews, Bureau Stories  |  11 Comments

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 Girls as young as 10 were often targeted in parks, takeaways and bus stations (Photo: Shutterstock)

Today’s Times reveals that South Yorkshire Police had detailed knowledge of how young girls were being groomed, pimped and sexually abused for more than a decade – yet nobody was prosecuted using this information.

In the past two years the Times has broken a string of child sexual abuse stories, highlighting how networks of men, usually of south Asian origin, were exploiting underage girls for sex in South Yorkshire and the Midlands. Hundreds of children are believed to have been exploited.

Young teenagers, many from troubled backgrounds or in care, were singled out for attention by local men, who would often act as a boyfriend. Over time, using drugs, alcohol, violence and the threat of abandonment, the girls would be coerced into having sex with their friends. In some cases girls were driven all over the country to be used for sex.

Now a cache of over 200 classified documents has been passed to the paper, revealing just how much police and child protection services knew about the abuse. They also reveal shocking incidents in which potential child exploitation was ignored by officers – and in many cases the victims were treated as the criminals.

In one such case, a 13-year-old was found by police with clothing in disarray, at 3am in a house with several men. She had been fed vodka by them. None of the men were questioned; she was arrested for being drunk and disorderly.

The files reveal multiple further cases where whole networks of abusers were identified by name, yet nobody was prosecuted.

The documents, which include research papers, case files, intelligence reports and correspondence between the police and social services, reveal that social services were concerned girls in care were being targeted for sexual abuse in Rotherham as long ago as 1996.

A report written a decade ago revealed there was ‘a great deal of data concerning the activities of these men’, including where girls were targeted and how they were ferried around to be used for sex. Yet, a later report noted, the feeling among the police was that if the girls would ‘help themselves’ by coming forward to give evidence against their abusers there was little the police could do.

No successful investigation into groups of sexual offenders in Rotherham was launched until 2009 – and several investigations since have failed.

Click here to read the full Times investigation

All in all the Times’ work – led by their chief investigative reporter – is a fine example of dogged and unflinching journalism. It’s a disturbing tale that touches on a difficult issue – the treatment of young, vulnerable white girls by ethnic minority men. In less delicate hands it could have been prurient or inflammatory. As it stands, the Times has, unlike the police or social services, done the story justice.

And there are signs that what has been revealed so far may be the tip of the iceberg – the children’s commissioner is currently studying the issue and said in a preliminary report that a cautious estimate indicates that ’several thousand children nationally’ may be showing the signs of sexual exploitation, with abuse taking place across the country. Detailed findings will be released in November, offering the first nationwide snapshot into how widespread the horrific abuse revealed by the Times may be.

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Responses

  1. Door Jelsma says:

    September 24th, 2012 at 6:35 pm (#)

    Important topic. On one hand it’s important to educate children about the phenomenon of ‘loverboys’ (described more correctly nowadays as ‘pimpboys’). In my country this seems to have been rather succesful. It is definitely true that cultural differences and misunderstandings can be used as an excuse or justification for criminal behaviour. Ethnic aspects of certain criminality need to be clearly distinguished, so they can be dealt with correctly, instead of criminalizing the complete ethnic group. What is most shocking to me is the fact that the police hardly took any measures towards the boys and men involved. An article from some time ago about this topic by Julie Bindel: http://standpointmag.co.uk/node/3576/full

  2. Barb says:

    September 24th, 2012 at 8:02 pm (#)

    http://gatesofvienna.blogspot.com/2012/09/south-yorkshire-police-and-rotherham.html

    To quote: “What the h*ell is going on in Britain?”

  3. Mark Simmons says:

    September 24th, 2012 at 8:37 pm (#)

    Yes, great journalism. I had no idea this was going on until The Times broke the story. I did not believe this could happen in the UK. The values that distinguish us from developing countries are diminishing by the day. Very sad and angry at the same time. Makes criticism of Murdoch seem petty in comparison.

  4. Anon says:

    September 24th, 2012 at 9:21 pm (#)

    It is no exaggeration to say that PC liberalism is a human sacrifice cult. How many more women and girls will be devastated by all this vibrant diversity?

  5. blindguard says:

    September 25th, 2012 at 10:56 am (#)

    I notice that not one politician has given Nick Griffin of the BNP any credit for highlighting this problem about 10 years ago.
    Wonder if a white man accused of pedophilia over the last 10 years would have been let off and not investigated?
    Oh yes I forgot, he was white, the law actually applies to him.
    Sad world we’re building man, sad, sad world.

    (Editor’s note: The law is almost always harsher on people of colour than on white people, so this comment is wrong. Also, Nick Griffin used this issue not to seek justice but to invoke hatred and racism – perhaps the reason he has not been given ‘any credit’.)

  6. Crosscop says:

    September 25th, 2012 at 11:35 am (#)

    This case in Rotherham is just the latest in a string of similar cases which are coming to light.We have had Rochdale,Stafford, Oldham, Keighley, Bradford, Burnley, Carlisle and Oxford and there will be many more to come. The authorities have known this has been going on for many, many, years in each and every Muslim dominated area of the country – and for fear of upsetting the Muslim community have hidden the fact from the public.

    Keighley Labour MP Ann Cryer spoke out and was called a racist and ignored. British National Party leader Nick Griffin spoke out and pointed out that Islam actually condones this behaviour – which it does. He was called a racist and arrested for “incitement to hatred.” He was found not guilty but again – nothing was done by the authorities to stop the abuse.

    Similar “grooming/rape” cases have also been reported in Muslim colonies in Scandinavia, Holland and the USA… and the Egyptian Copts have had to put up with this sort of thing for over a thousand years. It has nothing to do with ethnicity. It has everything to do with Islam.

  7. Crosscop says:

    September 25th, 2012 at 11:46 am (#)

    Editor – Nick Griffin was actually found not guilty of “incitement to hatred” so your claim that he used this issue to “invoke hatred and racism” is quite evidently false…or at least, the juries (he was tried twice)didn’t believe that there was evidence to show that was the case.

    BTW – according to a report by the Probation Service – black people are more likely to be found “not guilty” at Crown Court than whites. Juries don’t like to be thought “racist,” you see.

    Another BTW – Are you a member of the NUJ and if so are you following their instructions to never show the BNP in a favourable light – even when credit is obviously due in this case?

    (Editor’s comment – Come on. Nick Griffin clearly wants to invoke hatred and racism. Even his mother-in-law says he’s a racist.

    In the past he has referenced Britain as ‘a multi-racial hell-hole’ and gone on to describe British Muslims as ‘the most appalling, insufferable people to have to live with’ (Sunday Times, June 2009). Or this from the Mail on Sunday:”I don’t hate or have any problem with black people other than I hope very much they will remain black people. Other than I hope their children will look as black as they are…” (April 2006). Or this from the same paper: “There is a strong, direct link from Oswald Mosley to me.’ (April 2006).

    For anyone to think the BNP isn’t about hatred, then they are clearly not reading BNP websites and chat-rooms. BNP supporters clearly hate the way that the UK has transformed into a multi-cultural country and believe this has undermined the morality and ethics of Britain.

    The issues outlined in this article should not be subverted to fit into this narrative. White men and asian men both commit sexual crimes. Both should be treated equally under the law.

    As for the issue of race and sentencing – an analysis of one million court records has shown that black offenders are 44% more likely than white offenders to be sentenced to prison for driving offences, 38% more likely to be imprisoned for public disorder or possession of a weapon and 27% more likely for drugs possession. Asian offenders were 41% more likely to be sent to prison for drugs offences than their white counterparts and 19% more likely to go to jail for shoplifting.

    As for your NUJ question – no I am not a member.)

  8. JC5000 says:

    September 25th, 2012 at 1:18 pm (#)

    I have started an epetition to for a full public enquiry, please sign it.

    “We the undersigned call for a full independent judicial Public Enquiry into organised Child Grooming, Child Prostitution and Paedophilia in the UK and the various responses to it by all Local Authorities, Social Services, relevant charities/NGO’s, Police, Crown Prosecution Services, Politicians and Government Ministers, Civil Servants and the Media with a view to full public transparency and accountability and to make recommendations to ensure this travesty never happens again.”

    http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/39312

    Cheers,

  9. Cador Pendry says:

    September 25th, 2012 at 3:39 pm (#)

    Using the police for this type of investigation is like letting the lions train the Christians in gladiatorial combat. Both have their own agenda’s and therefore are not interested in protecting the innocents.
    This case and many, many, many others show the need for the more professional elements of the private sector to be used. Professionals not plebe!

  10. Baileyntx says:

    September 25th, 2012 at 5:02 pm (#)

    I have seen nothing that indicates that anybody within the police or child services is being held responsible for this! Is this not the secular equivalent of the Catholic Church coverups for sex abusing priests? Some heads definitely need to roll….

  11. Jimmy says:

    September 25th, 2012 at 7:37 pm (#)

    People assume that genocide means executing people, but you can destroy a group without physically murdering them. That’s what we are seeing – see points (b) (c) and (d) below…

    From Article II of the Convention, genocide is ANY of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as such:
    (a) Killing members of the group;
    (b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
    (c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
    (d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
    (e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

    Protecting young White girls from gang rape by non-Whites is now “racist”

    …”Diversity” means “less White people”
    …”Tolerance” means “you must agree that there should be less White people”
    …”We have moved forward as a country” means “the country is less White now”

    And we have this dilemma….
    “Anti-racists” talk about how White people have done evil things,
    “Anti-racists” say there is no such thing as an indigenous European,
    “Anti-racists” say White people should look forward to every White majority country becoming non-White.

    Obviously, “anti-racist” is just a codeword for anti-White.
    This is GENOCIDE (see above)

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