Gang use vapes to lure girls as young as ten
GROOMING gangs are using vapes to entice girls as young as 10 years old before exploiting them, police are warning.
GMP Rochdale’s District Commander Chief Superintendent Nicky Porter has warned grooming gangs are luring children in with vapes before leaving them in ‘very vulnerable situations’ where they can be exploited.
It comes after five men were jailed on October 30 for more than seven decades for non-recent child sexual exploitation in Rochdale. The men were found guilty of abusing two girls over a number of years in the mid-2000s.
Speaking at Greater Manchester Police’s HQ on the day of the sentencing, Chief Supt Porter said: “Not everybody makes the connection between vapes and sexual exploitation or criminal exploitation, but what we’re finding with most cases of exploitation is that there are gateways into this type of offending and that’s often by enticing young people with things that are desirable, that they might not be able to afford, like vapes that at the moment are very much a must have commodity for some young people.
“It starts with vaping, it might be encouraging young people to smoke vapes in a certain location, and then young people can find themselves in very vulnerable situations where they can be exploited.”
Her comments come amid a surge in police reports concerning the sale or provision of illegal vapes with officers receiving information that premises are selling vapes to young children and adults are offering them out outside shops and schools.
Chief Supt Porter said: “The ages of young people being exploited can range from 10 up to mid-teens. We are getting intelligence from the community concerned about young people being in certain locations and outside certain shops and very young people vaping. When we have discovered those young people may have additional vulnerabilities, that can make them susceptible to exploitation.”
GMP’S Rochdale district and partner agencies, including Rochdale Council Trading Standards, are working to close gateways to child sex exploitation.
Since January, Greater Manchester Police’s Operation Vigilant has seen the seizure of 2,899 vapes. A further 20,000 have been recovered by trading standards. There are currently 20 ongoing investigations which may result in prosecutions and/or closures.
On the long term impacts of exploitation on victims, Chief Supt Porter said the recent sentencing illustrates how abuse can affect children into adulthood.
“That case is an example of how these heinous crimes can really impact on young people well into their adult years and it can manifest in so many different ways,” she said.
The case took several years to come to court.
Commenting on why grooming cases take as long as they do to be heard, she said: “Victims and survivors of these types of issues are incredibly courageous and brave to come forward. They have experienced awful abuse and to come forward and report it is incredibly courageous and that can happen at different times for different people. Some may come forward straight away and for others it may take months, it may take years.
“That’s an important aspect to understand and we [GMP] need to be victim-led and victimfocused. We work closely with partners who can offer psychological and emotional support. We also work closely with children’s social care.”
She added: “Some of the non-recent cases will have complexities because of the passing of time and the availability, for example, of some evidence. Some of the cases are also complex as there are multiple offenders and multiple victims.
“We are very victimfocused, but also led by finding the evidence and hunting down perpetrators and I think the court result shows we will be relentless, regardless of the passage of time, we will find the justice victims rightly deserve.”
When asked what her advice would be to parents and carers concerned about exploitation or the sale or provision of illegal vapes, she said: “Please contact us no matter how small the concern is.
“A small piece of information can help us form a bigger picture and prevent exploitation.
“It’s better to prevent this because we know how devastating it can be when it escalates.
“For parents and carers it’s about having conversations with young people and considering who are they with? Who are their friends? What is their social media content? What’s their behaviour like? Plus, being aware of who they are socialising with.”
Greater Manchester Police can be contacted via gmp.police.uk or 101. In an emergency, always dial 999. Information about crime can also be shared anonymously via the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.