- Report found 1,400 children abused between 1997 and 2013 in Rotherham
- The figure is likely to be a conservative estimate of the true scale
- Victims terrorised with guns and doused in petrol and threatened with fire
- More than a third of the cases were already know to agencies
- Author of the report condemned 'blatant' failings by council's leadership
- Action blocked by political correctness as staff 'feared appearing racist'
- Majority of victims described the perpetrators as 'Asian' men
- Leader of Rotherham Council has stepped down with immediate effect
- No council employees will receive disciplinary action, leaders state
The sexual abuse of about 1,400 children at the hands of Asian men went unreported for 16 years because staff feared they would be seen as racist, a report said today.
Children as young as 11 were trafficked, beaten, and raped by large numbers of men between 1997 and 2013 in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, the council commissioned review into child protection revealed.
And shockingly, more than a third of the cases were already know to agencies.
But according to the report's author: 'several staff described their nervousness about identifying the ethnic origins of perpetrators for fear of being thought racist'.
Horrific: A report has discovered that 1,400 children were sexually exploited in Rotherham over a 16-year period. Adil Hussain (left) and Razwan Razaq (right) were jailed in 2010 for grooming young girls in the town
Gang: Umar Razaq was another of the five-strong sex gang jailed and placed on the sex offenders' register
Professor Alexis Jay, who wrote the report, condemned the 'blatant' collective failures by the council's leadership, concluding: 'It is hard to describe the appalling nature of the abuse that child victims suffered.'
The landmark report which exposed widespread failures of the council, police and social services revealed:
- Victims were doused in petrol and threatened with being set alight, terrorised with guns, made to witness brutally-violent rapes and told they would be the next if they spoke out;
- They were raped by multiple perpetrators, trafficked to other towns and cities in the north of England, abducted, beaten and intimidated;
- One victim described gang rape as 'a way of life';
- Police 'regarded many child victims with contempt';
- Some fathers tried to rescue their children from abuse but were arrested themselves;
- The approximate figure of 1,400 abuse victims is likely to be a conservative estimate of the true scale of abuse.
The lack of reports was partly down to a fear of being racist, Prof Jay wrote, as the majority of the perpetrators were described as 'Asian men', and many were said to be of Pakistani origin.
One young person told the inquiry that 'gang rape' was a usual part of growing up in the area of Rotherham where she lived.
Jailed: Zafran Ramzan, 21, was jailed for nine years and Mohsin Khan for four in the same case
In two cases, fathers had tracked down their daughters and tried to remove them from houses where they were being abused - only to be arrested themselves when police were called to the scene.
And one child declined her initial offer to give a statement after allegedly receiving a text from a perpetrator threatening to harm her younger sister.
The failures happened despite three reports between 2002 and 2006 'which could not have been clearer in the description of the situation in Rotherham'.
Prof Jay said the first of these reports was 'effectively suppressed' because senior officers did not believe the data.
The other two were ignored, the professor said.
Fears had also been raised by schools over the 16 years but the alerts went uninvestigated.
Teachers reported seeing children as young as 11, 12 and 13 being picked up outside schools by cars and taxis, given presents and mobile phones and taken to meet large numbers of unknown men in Rotherham or other local towns and cities.
The majority of victims believed the perpetrators to be their boyfriend who gave them gifts, alcohol and drugs. Some of the victims still maintain they were not groomed or abused.
Analysing the case studies, Prof Jay said many of the children came from dysfunctional families, had parents with addictions, and had suffered domestic or sexual abuse as a child.
Condemned: Professor Alexis Jay, author of the report, blasted the 'blatant' failing of Rotherham Council
Widespread: More than a third of the sexual abuse cases were known to agencies but not followed up
Some had serious mental health problems.
Councillors seemed to dismiss previous reports as a one-off problem which they hoped would go away, according to Prof Jay.
She said: 'Others remembered clear direction from their managers not to do so.'
The spotlight first fell on Rotherham in 2010 when five men, described by a judge as 'sexual predators', were given lengthy jail terms after they were found guilty of grooming teenage girls for sex.
The five men - Umar Razaq, Adil Hussain, Razwan Razaq, Zafran Ramzan, and Mohsin Khan - preyed on their victims over several months and threatened them with violence if they refused their advances.
One of the men branded his victim a ‘white bitch’ when she resisted, while a second smirked: ‘I’ve used you and abused you.'
The men, all British-born Pakistanis, attacked the four girls in play areas, parks and in the back of their cars, Sheffield Crown Court heard.
NO COUNCIL EMPLOYEES WILL FACE DISCIPLINARY ACTION OVER ABUSE
Martin Kimber said no council employees will face disciplinary action followin
No council employees will face disciplinary action in a town where 1,400 children suffered sexual exploitation in a 16-year period, the local authority's chief executive has said.
Rotherham Council leader Roger Stone resigned today following the publication of a shocking report which detailed gang rapes, grooming, trafficking and other sexual exploitation on a wide scale in the South Yorkshire town.
But Shaun Wright, the current Police Commissioner for South Yorkshire is Shaun Wright, who was widely criticised for failing to tackle sex abuse in Rotherham during his five-year stint in the council's children and young people's department, said he is more determined than ever to lead a Police Force that 'effectively roots out the evil criminals who carry out such disgraceful abuse'.
Council chief executive Martin Kimber said he did not have the evidence to discipline any individuals working for the council despite the report saying there had been 'blatant' collective failures by its leadership at the time.
Mr Kimber said: 'Officers in senior positions responsible for children's safeguarding services throughout the critical periods when services fell some way short of today's standards do not work for the council today.
'To that extent, I have not been able to identify any issues of professional practice related to current serving officers of this council that would require me to consider use of disciplinary or capability procedures.'
Mr Stone said in a statement: 'Having considered the report, I believe it is only right that I, as leader, take responsibility on behalf of the council for the historic failings that are described so clearly in the report and it is my intention to do so.
'For this reason, I have today agreed with my Labour group colleagues that I will be stepping down as leader with immediate effect.'
A statement released on behalf of Mr Wright said: 'Professor Jay’s report makes recommendations for improvements in the way South Yorkshire Police deal with these crimes, and Mr Wright will be meeting with the Chief Constable to ensure these are implemented in full.
'He is more determined than ever to lead a Police Force that effectively roots out the evil criminals who carry out such disgraceful abuse to South Yorkshire children and brings them to justice.'
Professor Alexis Jay, who wrote the report, said she found examples of 'children who had been doused in petrol and threatened with being set alight, threatened with guns, made to witness brutally-violent rapes and threatened they would be next if they told anyone'.
She said: 'They were raped by multiple perpetrators, trafficked to other towns and cities in the north of England, abducted, beaten and intimidated.'
She said she found that girls as young as 11 had been raped by large numbers of men.
They gave them gifts and introduced them to their friends. The girls were abused so frequently that after many months it ‘became a way of life’.
The girls, who were being monitored by social services, were eventually rescued by police and removed from their homes amid growing concerns for their safety.
The leader of Rotherham Council, Roger Stone, has today quit in light of the findings. He has led the council since 2003.
The current Police Commissioner for South Yorkshire is Shaun Wright, who was widely criticised for failing to tackle sex abuse in Rotherham during his five-year stint in the council's children and young people's department.
From 2005 to 2010, Cllr Wright was in charge of children's services in the borough and worked closely with Joyce Thacker, who became Director of Children's Services in 2008.
The prosecution was the first of a series of high-profile cases in the last four years that have revealed the exploitation of young girls in towns and cities including Rochdale, Derby and Oxford.
HORRIFIC MURDER OF GIRL, 17, KILLED FOR 'BRINGING SHAME' ON TWO PAKISTANI FAMILIES WHOSE MEN HAD USED HER FOR SEX... AND SOCIAL WORKERS KNEW SHE WAS AT RISK FROM THE AGE OF 11
Laura Wilson, 17, was murdered for bringing shame on the families of two Pakistani men who had used her for sex
The spotlight fell on Rotherham in 2010, after Laura Wilson, 17, was murdered for bringing shame on the families of two Pakistani men who had used her for sex.
It was later revealed that social workers had known for six years that the white teenage mother was at clear risk from predatory Asian gangs, and had received information about certain adults suspected of targeting her from the age of 11.
Laura, 17, had been groomed by a string of British Pakistanis before she was stabbed and thrown into a canal to die for informing her abusers' families of the sexual relationships.
Her killer Ashtiaq Asghar, who was 18 at the time, was given a life sentence and will serve a minimum of 17-and-a-half years after he pleaded guilty to murdering Laura in October 2010.
In 2012, the council's Safeguarding Children Board published a serious case review but key passages which reveal they knew she was at particular risk from 'Asian men' had been blocked out with black lines.
The council went to court in an attempt to tried to suppress the hidden information after a uncensored copy of the report was leaked to the Times newspaper but they abandoned legal action.
The council went to court in an attempt to tried to suppress the hidden information after a uncensored copy of the report was leaked to the Times newspaper but they abandoned legal action.
The uncensored report confirms that Laura, identified as Child S, had dealings with 15 agencies and identified 'numerous missed opportunities' to protect her.
It states that she eventually became 'almost invisible' to care professionals.
The hidden information included the knowledge that at the age of 13 Laura and a friend had been given alcohol by men at a takeaway who then asked what she would give them in return.
Murder: Laura was stabbed repeatedly by 18-year-old Ashtiaq Asghar before being thrown into this South Yorkshire canal to die
She had also been referred to a child sexual exploitation project just three months after her 11th birthday. Another censored passage reveals that Laura had been 'mentioned' during a 2009 police inquiry that eventually led to the conviction of five Pakistani men for sex offences against three underage girls.
While the published report mentioned the fact that a friend, who Laura knew when she was 10, was 'thought to have become involved in sexual exploitation', it concealed the succeeding passage which read: 'with particular reference to Asian men'.
In August 2013, four women launched legal action against Rotherham council over 'systematic failures' to protect them from 'sexual abuse by predatory men when they were children' according to their lawyers.
One girl, known only as 'Jessica' claims she was abused daily as a 14-year-old by a 24-year-old man after social services failed to accept that she was a victim grooming.
On one ocassion married father-of-two Arshid Hussain was even caught with the half naked schoolgirl under his bed but documents revealed that police arrested her - and let him go.
Rotherham, South Yorkshire, has become known as Britain's under-age sex capital, after a string of high profile cased where authorities have let down vulnerable children.
In another shocking case, reported in 2012, a 13-year-old girl told police how she had been groomed and raped by an Asian sex gang.
She wrote a harrowing letter to herself at the age of 14 addressed to her alter-ego Michelle, in which she wrote, 'I feel like the Asians really hate me even when they say they love me'.
The girl, who told police in 2003 about the rape that took her virginity and the time five men queued outside a bedroom to demand sex from her, added, 'They took all my dreams and my life away from me.'
Warnings: The report comes after two others done between 2002 and 2006 which 'could not have been clearer'
Children as young as 11 were doused in petrol and threatened with fire and told not to speak out in the town
Following the 2010 case, The Times claimed that details from 200 restricted-access documents showed how police and child protection agencies in the South Yorkshire town had extensive knowledge of these activities for a decade, yet a string of offences went unprosecuted.
The allegations led to a range of official investigations, including one by the Home Affairs Select Committee.
Yvette Cooper MP, Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary, called the report 'utterly devastating' and praised the victims for coming forward.
She said: 'Their bravery in coming forward to give evidence to this inquiry is truly admirable. We can only hope this will help to protect other children from abuse in the future.
''That is why it is urgent that the Government gets the overarching inquiry into child abuse up and running. We need this to focus on gaps in the current child protection system, as well as historic child abuse.'
Last year, South Yorkshire police and crime commissioner (PCC) Shaun Wright said there had been 'a failure of management' at South Yorkshire Police as he responded to a report into his force on this issue by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC).
'I ABHOR THE LIFELONG DAMAGE THAT WAS WREAKED UPON THE LIVES OF ALL THOSE AFFECTED': STATEMENT FROM ROTHERHAM COUNCIL LEADER ROGER STONE AS HE STEPS DOWN FOLLOWING DAMNING REPORT
Resigned: Roger Stone has stepped down with immediate effect following the release of the report
Announcing his resignation with immediate effect, Roger Stone said: 'Today's publication of Alexis Jay's inquiry report has highlighted historic failings by Rotherham Borough Council and its partners in tackling the scourge that is child sexual exploitation.
'The Council will now rightly consider the next steps to be taken following its publication, including ways to build on the significant improvements put in place in recent years.
'I join our Chief Executive Martin Kimber and our Cabinet Member Cllr Paul Lakin in sending my heartfelt apologies to those young people and their families who this report shows have been badly let down by the Council in the past.
'Like any right-minded person, I am disgusted by CSE and abhor the lifelong damage that it wreaks upon the lives of all those affected by it.
'It is a matter of great regret for me, as it is for many others, that so many people have been traumatised by CSE here in Rotherham.
'However, having considered the report, I believe it is only right that I, as Leader, take responsibility on behalf of the Council for the historic failings that are described so clearly in the report and it is my intention to do so.
'For this reason, I have today agreed with my Labour Group colleagues that I will be stepping down as Leader, with immediate effect.
'A new Leader will be elected in due course.
'I have always considered my most important job as Leader has been to share my passion for this borough and to work in the best interests of everyone here in Rotherham.
'I believe my decision to step down, though not an easy one for me to make, does exactly that, allowing a new chapter in the history of Rotherham Borough Council to begin.
'I would like to take the opportunity to thank all those within the Council and in our partner organisations who have worked with me over the past 10 years and I wish them all the very best for the future.'
Rotherham child sex victim, 15, doused in petrol and threatened with fire after she was trafficked to three different cities
One victim of child sex abuse in Rotherham was trafficked for sex to Leeds, Bradford and Sheffield by the time she was 15-years-old and was doused in petrol and threatened with being set alight.
The girl, referred to only as Child B in today's report, was threatened with being forced into prostitution, her older sibling was taken to hospital, and the windows of their house were shattered.
The report said she was 'groomed by an older man involved in the exploitation of other children'.
The report said: 'Child B loved this man. He trafficked her to Leeds, Bradford and Sheffield and offered to provide her with a flat in one of those cities.
'A child protection referral was made but the social care case file recorded no response to this.'
The report detailed how 'within just a few months Child B and her family were living in fear of their lives'.
The report said: 'Child B and her mother refused to have anything more to do with the police because they believed the police could do nothing to protect them.'
It added: 'Child B had been stalked and had petrol poured over her head and was threatened with being set alight.
'She took overdoses. She and her family were too terrified to make statements to the police.'
The report said the teenager was homeless by the time she was 18.
It concluded: 'She referred herself to children's social care and was given advice about benefits. No further action was taken. This child and her family were completely failed by all services with the exception of Risky Business (a local support group).'
A girl referred to as Child D was 13 when she was groomed, raped and trafficked by a violent sexual predator in the town.
'Police and children's social care were ineffective and seemed to blame the child,' the report said.
It said: 'An initial assessment accurately described the risks to Child D but appeared to blame her for "placing herself at risk of sexual exploitation and danger".'
And the report concluded: 'Other than Risky Business, agencies showed no comprehension that she had been groomed at 13, that she was terrified of the perpetrators, and that her attempts to placate them were themselves a symptom of the serious emotional harm that child sexual exploitation had caused her.'
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