A catalogue of police failings left criminals free to sexually abuse more than 1,400 children in Rotherham over a 16-year period, a review by the National Crime Agency has found.
South Yorkshire police has been told to make 48 improvements to its handling of child sexual exploitation investigations following an inquiry by the agency dubbed Britain’s FBI.
The report, published on Thursday, found that the force did not use alternative ways to gather evidence, missed ways to protect victims, and failed to work well with the local authority to tackle offenders.
The NCA launched its inquiry in December 2014 following the release of Professor Alexis Jay’s damning report in August, which triggered a national outcry after revealing that children as young as 11 had been raped and abducted by multiple perpetrators between 1997 and 2013.
A number of resignations followed in the wake of the Jay report, including that of South Yorkshire’s police and crime commissioner, Shaun Wright.
The review, led by the NCA deputy director, André Baker, found that South Yorkshire police had begun to address its past failings but said there may be further opportunities to pursue offenders identified in previous investigations.
“Over the years, intelligence and investigative opportunities in relation to child sexual exploitation have been overlooked by South Yorkshire police,” it said.
One of South Yorkshire police’s Rotherham investigations, Operation Mark, is to be integrated into the NCA’s Operation Stovewood after the review found it was “not as developed” as two other inquiries into child sexual abuse in the city, Operations Clover and Monroe.
An NCA director, Trevor Pearce, who is in charge of the Operation Stovewood investigation launched in January into allegations of non-familial child sexual exploitation in Rotherham, said improvements would be made to the force’s handling of similar cases.
He said: “A review of these three investigations has identified improvements that need to be made at both strategic and operational level. Many of the issues identified by the review team have already been addressed by the force or work is in hand to do so.
“I have discussed the recommendations with South Yorkshire Police and I am confident that we now have a foundation from which to deliver a set of consistent, victim-focused and coordinated investigations to identify, disrupt and bring to justice those responsible for harming vulnerable individuals in Rotherham within the period covered by the Alexis Jay report.
“South Yorkshire Police has already made a number of arrests in relation to these matters and other offenders who believe that their past actions will never catch up with them should think again.”
The report found that the force’s current management of child sexual exploitation cases was “professional and appropriate” and that officers were “conscientious, enthusiastic and focused upon providing good outcomes”.
