Rotherham grooming gang victim receives apology after her abuser was moved to open prison without her knowledge

A grooming gang survivor who was not told her attacker had been downgraded to an open prison has received an official apology in Parliament.
A grooming gang survivor who was not told her attacker had been downgraded to an open prison has received an official apology in ParliamentA grooming gang survivor who was not told her attacker had been downgraded to an open prison has received an official apology in Parliament
A grooming gang survivor who was not told her attacker had been downgraded to an open prison has received an official apology in Parliament

Rotherham MP Sarah Champion demanded an apology in the Commons today (Tuesday) to the woman, named only as "Elizabeth", who had been subjected to "brutal" sexual exploitation in the town over a decade-long period.

Two and a half years after her abusers were convicted, Elizabeth discovered one of the individuals serving a nine year sentence for two counts of raping a child was being moved to a different prison.

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Justice minister Lucy Frazer apologised to Ms Champion’s constituent for not having contacted her before the referral of the individual to open conditions.

RotherhamRotherham
Rotherham

Ms Champion told MPs: “I ask this question on behalf of my constituent, who I will call Elizabeth. For a decade, she was subject to brutal abuse by a grooming gang in Rotherham.

“Because of her tenacity, she managed to secure convictions – one for an individual for nine years for two counts of child rape against her.

“After two and a half years, she discovered that he had been downgraded to an open prison.

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“Neither Elizabeth nor the police were consulted about this or notified as part of the risk assessment process, so one wonders if it’s just prison conduct that contributes to risk assessments.

Sarah Champion MPSarah Champion MP
Sarah Champion MP

“More concerning, he is potentially up for weekend release but that’s not going to happen because of Covid.

“So in Elizabeth’s own words, how effective does (Ms Frazer) think the release on temporary leave system actually is? And I would appreciate a direct answer minister.”

Ms Frazer responded: “Well, I’m very grateful for (Ms Champion) raising this very important and tragic case and I know she’s written to me about it and I hope she’s had the content of my letter back.

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“I know that the service have already apologised to her constituent and I apologise on their behalf as well for not contacting her before the referral to open conditions.

“The victim liaison officer has made the offender manager aware of conditions that should be imposed on any release for temporary licence and so those will be taken into account should there be any ROTL (Release on temporary licence) granted.

“But I’m very happy to continue to discuss this case with (Ms Champion) at any opportune moment.”

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