Cleverly: Work as one and we can vanquish evil gangs grooming our children
550 suspected child predators arrested in major crackdown’s first year
JAMES Cleverly has warned paedophile gangs that “we are coming for you” as he condemned their evil crimes.
The Home Secretary said the horrific grooming of children was a “national scandal” as he applauded the results of a specialist taskforce.
It has led to the arrest of more than 550 suspected child predators in its first 12 months.
Mr Cleverly has vowed more grooming gangs will be smashed but warned the whole criminal justice system “needs to work as one to vanquish this evil”.
Writing in today’s Daily Express, he says: “Some of the most vulnerable young people were treated with a contempt that defies words.
Harmed
“Raped and brutalised by gangs, they were left to fend for themselves by people whose job it was to look out for their wellbeing and intervene when they were being harmed.
“It is a national scandal. Every possible effort must be made to ensure it cannot happen again.
“That’s why Government took action.
“My message to perpetrators is simple: ‘We are coming for you’. And my message to everyone else is that we must not and will not let down children ever again.”
The Grooming Gangs Taskforce has also helped to protect more than 4,000 victims from sexual exploitation since it was set up by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in April 2023, the Home Office said.
His warning follows scandals where the organised sexual exploitation of thousands of children in Rotherham, Telford and Rochdale went unchecked amid fears of being labelled racist.
A damning 2022 report by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse found that exploitation has continued a decade after it became a national scandal.
The unit is made up of experts and specialist officers who have been supporting all 43 police forces in England and Wales with child sexual exploitation and grooming investigations.
Led by the National Police Chiefs’ Council and supported by the National Crime Agency, the taskforce is a full-time, operational unit funded by the Home Office.
It aims to improve how the police investigate grooming gangs and also to identify and protect children from abuse. It is staffed by experienced and qualified officers and data analysts who have long-term, practical on-the-ground experience of undertaking investigations into paedophile gangs.
More than 400 officers have been specially trained, with more to be mobilised over the coming months to root out child sex offenders.
Mr Cleverly added: “Crucially, the taskforce works closely with the Crown Prosecution Service to build stronger cases, as well as providing intelligence to help identify and disrupt grooming gang networks.
“The whole criminal justice system needs to work as one to vanquish this evil. There can be no weak links.” The Criminal Justice Bill is “better protecting children”, he added, by requiring all professionals to report fears of abuse to police and banning sex offenders from changing their names.