Sex abuse gangs targeted 2,400 youngsters

The figures, dating from August 2010 to October 2011, are revealed today in an interim report 
published midway through the Office of the Children’s Commissioner’s two-year inquiry, which was ordered by the Government.

Entitled I thought I was the only one. The only one in the world, it comes after nine Asian men who groomed white girls as young as 13 in Rochdale with drink and drugs were jailed at Liverpool Crown Court in May.

And two months ago, documents emerged which allegedly showed agencies in Rotherham were aware of allegations of widespread targeted abuse of teenage girls in the town by groups of Asian men.

However, the report’s leader, Deputy Children’s Commissioner Sue Berelowitz, said the “model” of Asian men targeting white girls was just one of “a number”, and warned if investigators concentrated on those patterns, victims could fall through the net.

“This abuse and violence can be relentless and take place anywhere – as they go home from school, as they walk to the shops, in their local park,” she added. “The vast majority of the perpetrators are male and, in both gang and group contexts, different models of exploitation have been identified.

“Perpetrators range in age from young adolescents to older men. The evidence is clear that they come from all ethnic groups and so do their victims – contrary to what some may wish to believe.

“This report does not shy away from the shocking realities of what is happening up and down the country. It is vital agencies improve the information they share about the victims and those at risk of sexual exploitation, so that children can be better protected.”

The report found children could not always provide accurate information about their abuser’s ethnicity, and 68 per cent could not provide any details of them at all.

Of the 1,514 abusers that were identified, almost a third were Asian men, while most were white.

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper described the evidence in today’s report as “deeply disturbing”, adding that it should act as “a wake-up call to the Government and other agencies that urgent action is needed”.