Watch out for signs of child sex abuse, hotels told by police

HOTEL staff in parts of Yorkshire have been told to be on alert for the signs of child sex grooming amid fears paedophiles may be using the establishments to carry out abuse away from prying eyes.
Martyn Bates of South Yorkshire PoliceMartyn Bates of South Yorkshire Police
Martyn Bates of South Yorkshire Police

South Yorkshire Police, which was accused by MPs of “letting down” the victims of child sexual exploitation by failing to bring about any recent prosecutions for the offence, wants hotels to report concerns about “inappropriate relationships” between guests.

Staff are being issued with guidelines about the danger signs for potential child sex grooming and can call for an officer, who will enter the room where the guests are staying to check whether an offence is taking place.

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The move comes days after Keighley MP Kris Hopkins called for a change in the law to force hotel owners to inform the police if they suspect child grooming.

The Conservative MP said police chiefs in several parts of the country, including South Yorkshire, had raised the alarm over a small number of hotels being almost openly used by grooming gangs.

Temporary Detective Superintendent Phil Etheridge, South Yorkshire Police’s lead on Child Sexual Exploitation, said hotels were being used for grooming around the country and that it was “more than likely to be happening in South Yorkshire”.

He said: “A lot of these offences are in private and we want to make it as difficult as possible for people committing these offences to use hotels in South Yorkshire to facilitate that.”

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Local authorities in South Yorkshire were heavily criticised for being “inexcusably slow” to tackle widespread sexual abuse of children in a recent report by the Home Affairs Select Committee.

The report said no cases have been brought to court in South Yorkshire since 2010, though a 28-year-old man from Sheffield has since been jailed for sexual activity with a child. Police say they currently have 60 ongoing child sex abuse investigations but admit services to tackle the problem “in the past have not been as strong as they are today”.