Rachel Williams 

Rochdale police and council ‘repeatedly warned’ about sex abuse risk in town

NHS team made 83 referrals to borough council from 2004-10 in town harbouring gang of nine finally jailed over child sex ring
  
  


Social workers and police in a town where nine men were found guilty of running a child sexual exploitation ring had been warned dozens of times that local girls were at risk of abuse in the years before charges were brought in that case, the Guardian can reveal.

Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show that an NHS team providing sexual health services to vulnerable young people made 83 referrals to Rochdale borough council about girls they thought were either being sexually exploited, or were at risk of exploitation, between 2004 and the end of 2010.

Staff on the crisis intervention team (CIT) also made 44 referrals to Greater Manchester police in the same period.

The revelations come as Rochdale's safeguarding children board (SCB) publishes a review concluding there were "many missed opportunities" over the past five years to safeguard children and young people affected by sexual exploitation. A working group set up by the SCB in 2007 identified in its first year 50 young people affected by, or at risk of, exploitation, the report reveals.

At a Liverpool crown court trial this year, nine men were found to have "shared" five girls in Rochdale, plying them with fast food, drink and drugs so they could "pass them around" and use them for sex.

The victims, were raped, physically assaulted and forced to have sex with several men in a day, several times a week.

One 13-year-old victim had an abortion after falling pregnant. Another gave evidence of being raped by two men while "so drunk she was vomiting over the side of the bed". The case prompted Wednesday's review, which looks at how agencies handled child sexual exploitation in Rochdale from 2007 to this year, with the main victim in the court case as an example.

Agencies such as the CIT and Early Break, a drug and alcohol service for young people, understood that teenagers like her were victims of abuse, rather than consenting young adults, and referred potential victims to the council's children's social care department, the report says. But the response to cases of children at risk of exploitation was poor, with case files showing staff often considered such young people to be "making their own choices" and "engaging in consensual sexual activity". Often, no further action was taken. Agencies who had made referrals were left frustrated that their concerns were not being adequately assessed or dealt with.

There were "clear deficiencies" in the way social workers responded to the needs of the victim, referred to in the report as Suzie, with no action taken over referrals.

The report also details how the criminal justice system missed opportunities to bring the perpetrators to justice. Suzie first complained to police in 2008, but the Crown Prosecution Service later decided not charge anyone, as she would be an "unreliable witness".

In December 2010, Greater Manchester police launched Operation Span to investigate a large group of men suspected of sexual exploitation and, in 2011, the CPS overturned its decision not to bring charges relating to her case.

The Guardian's figures show that, in 2008 alone, there were 36 referrals to the council and 16 to the police.

The review also spoke to victims of exploitation involved in the court case, who described police and social services as "not listening" to them. "A common disclosure by the young people was that even when they co-operated with agencies, nothing changed, the abuse continued," the report says.

Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk said: "The Guardian's investigation shows without any doubt that police and social services ignored an endemic problem of abuse.

"Time and again, the local authority were alerted to the fact these girls were being abused and they failed to do anything. We now need to know what action is being taken against these people that turned a blind eye to abuse and ignored numerous cries for help from young, vulnerable girls."

The father of the victim referred to in the review said he believed that social workers were incompetent: "Case files show that social workers in Rochdale believed girls who were being systematically abused were 'making their own choices'. By their neglect, they were complicit in prolonging the abuse. If they had being doing their job, they could have stopped this abuse years ago."

The chief executive of Rochdale council, Jim Taylor, said he deeply regretted that the local authority had missed opportunities to help victims.

"This review … has shown deficiencies in our children's social care service and, in parts, an unacceptable level of support. There was more that could, and should have been done to protect the victims when allegations first came to light. Unacceptable practice is being investigated and dealt with … We are now more able to intervene earlier and more robustly."

Greater Manchester police's divisional commander for Rochdale, chief superintendent Annette Anderson, said the force had already stated there were "issues" with its 2008 inquiry, but could not comment further while the Independent Police Complaints Commission was investigating. "What we can say is that GMP's force-wide approach to child sexual exploitation and child abuse in general has changed significantly over the last few years," she said

"Locally, with our partners at the council and the health service, Rochdale division now has formal working strategies to tackle head-on child exploitation. Integral to this has been an intensive programme of raising awareness with officers which has now happened to such an extent that they all now see CSE as part of a wider pattern of behaviour and offending."

 

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