Poor supervision of investigations and unacceptable delays led to a situation where a child abuse suspect was allowed to continue offending, according to a report by the police watchdog into Nottinghamshire police.
Six months passed before an initial investigation into the 21-year-old’s relationship with a 14-year-old girl was completed and there was a “significant delay” before he was arrested. Two further offences relating to him, involving the exchange of indecent images with other teenage children, were reported to other forces during that period, when potential evidence was also lost.
The case was singled out by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) in a follow-up report into Nottinghamshire police, which was the subject of scrutiny in 2014 as part of a rolling programme of child protection inspections of all police forces in England and Wales.
In the latest report, inspectors examined the force’s handling of six cases relating to children aged between 10 and 14 years who were at high risk of sexual exploitation.
One was assessed as “requiring improvement” while the other five were inadequate. HMIC said it found “poor supervision” in all six cases.
HM Inspector of Constabulary Zoë Billingham said that the force had made a clear commitment to improving the services it provides to children since initial inspections in September 2014.
She added, however, that were still some areas that the force needed to improve upon, adding: “We were concerned to find that non-specialist staff were investigating cases without receiving the training they need to manage these effectively.
“We also found examples of poor supervision of investigations leading to unacceptable delays, which can leave opportunities for perpetrators to continue offending.”
The report also found that the force had taken steps to improve its response when attending domestic abuse incidents but limited training and guidance has been provided to frontline staff about the importance of consistently recording the effect of exposure to domestic abuse on a child’s welfare.
Chief constable Chris Eyre said that the force was committed to improving the way it protects children and would look “to review the learning identified in this report” to continue making this progress.
He said: “The safety and welfare of children is paramount, and at the heart of everything we do. I’d like to reassure people that we have expert officers and staff working extremely hard to keep young people safe from harm.
“Indeed our good progress in domestic abuse cases involving children has been highlighted in the report.”
