Police need 100 more officers to tackle sex abuse in Rotherham
THE investigation into historical sexual abuse in Rotherham is still so big police say they need 100 more officers.
Paul Williamson, the senior investigating officer on Operation Stovewood, has revealed he needs extra staff because the inquiry is so huge and complex.
The National Crime Agency team of 144 officers has so far only ‘actively engaged’ with 17 per cent of the victims they want to speak to.
Compared in scale to the inquiry into the Hillsborough disaster, the probe could continue for years. They have identified 110 suspects but so far only four men have been convicted, and 18 others charged.
The £ 10million multi- agency operation focusing on child sexual exploitation in the South Yorkshire town between 1997 and 2013, has been described as ‘unique and unprecedented’.
That is due, in part, to the complex issues surrounding vulnerable victims abused in childhood.
Dozens of officers with specialist skills are required.
A total of 1,510 possible victims have been identified and yet, three years into the inquiry, the team has only been dealing with 260 of them. Mr Williamson told the Guardian: ‘It’s a really specialist area, engaging and interviewing vulnerable victims. A lot of our victims were children when they were abused but they’re now adults and have associated problems as a result of that abuse, including suicidal tendencies, mental health issues, drug and alcohol addiction. It’s really complex. The progress will necessarily be influenced by the number of officers we’ve got on the team and we can see that.’
He added: ‘ I’m conscious of demands across law enforcement in the UK at the moment, but we have assessed that 200-250 [officers] is the optimum model to actually achieve the task.’
There are 144 officers on the operation but an application was made to raise that to 200-250, which was supported by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services.
It is not known if manpower will be increased, but any extra cost will be paid for by taxpayers.
Most of the cost comes from the Home Office budget with some paid for by South Yorkshire Police. Six trials are due to take place this year and there are 34 separate investigations going on under the Operation Stovewood umbrella.
The inquiry was ordered in 2015 after a report by Professor Alexis Jay estimated 1,400 girls were sexually exploited by men predominantly of Pakistani-heritage in Rotherham who plied girls with drink and drugs.
The victims were failed by police, social services and health professionals who turned a blind eye to what was going on.
A change of attitude has seen resources pumped into improved training and investigative methods as police bid to bring paedophiles who abuse girls in this way to justice. Mr Williamson said last week: ‘We will not falter in our commitment as an agency to this task. The identification and bringing to justice of offenders is what we’ll be judged on.’
The NCA team has stressed that bringing these cases to court can be a ‘long and difficult process’ that can take a ‘number of years’.
It takes time to build trust and relationships between the victims with extremely troubled pasts.
On Saturday the Mail reported that a police inquiry in the North-East had revealed gangs of British-Asian men had abused 700 girls and women. Experts say a national research study should be carried out to understand why this type of crime is continuing.