Towns that turned a blind eye

TELFORD is the latest English town to find itself in the spotlight over claims of child sex abuse by grooming gangs.

ROTHERHAM: The issue first came to light in November 2010 when five Asian men were jailed for sexual offences against underage girls. Two years later The Times newspaper published an investigation which revealed a confidential police report had warned networks of Asian men were committing thousands of such crimes in South Yorkshire each year. Eventually, a damning review into abuse in Rotherham showed that at least 1,400 children were subjected to sexual exploitation in the city between 1997 and 2013.

ROCHDALE: In 2015 Greater Manchester Police were forced to apologise after a report highlighted failures ‘at individual and force level’ into its dealings with victims involved in child abuse in the town between 2008 and 2010.

OXFORD: A serious case review of the Oxford sex gang – commissioned by Maggie Blyth, independent chair of the Oxfordshire safeguarding children board – reported that as many as 373 children, 50 of them boys, may have been targeted for sex over 16 years. The report criticised Thames Valley Police and Oxfordshire County Council for not acting sooner to deal with abuse of children as young as 11.