'Horrific' Cases Of Child Abuse in Rotherham

By Becky Johnson, North of England Correspondent

More than 1,400 children were sexually exploited in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013, a report has concluded.

The abuse of children, some just 11 years old, has been described as "horrific".

The report also found it is "not confined to the past but continues to this day".

Roger Stone, the leader of Rotherham council, has stepped down following the publication of the report.

Council leader Roger Stone

"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," he said.

"For this reason, I have today agreed with my Labour group colleagues that I will be stepping down as leader with immediate effect."

Despite Mr Stone's resignation, chief executive Martin Kimber said no council officers will face disciplinary action as he did not have enough evidence against individuals.

"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," he said.

"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."

In the summary of her findings, independent reviewer Professor Alexis Jay said: "It is hard to describe the appalling nature of the abuse that the victims suffered.

"They were raped by multiple perpetrators, trafficked to other towns and cities in the north of England, abducted, beaten, and intimidated.

"There were examples of children who had been doused in petrol and threatened with being set alight, threatened with guns, made witness to brutally violent rapes and threatened they would be next if they told anyone.

"Girls as young as 11 were raped by large numbers of male perpetrators."

Chief executive Martin Kimber: 'No sackings'

The report highlights a variety of historical and serious child protection failings and concludes the council and other agencies should have done more to protect those at risk.

In just over a third of cases victims were previously known to services in the town because of child protection and neglect.

The report says there was a series of failings including poor leadership from senior managers in child protection services and a perceived "lack of interest" in, and understanding of, grooming as a model of child abuse.

Victims were not heard or believed and there was a perception that a "macho and bullying" culture within the council prevented child sexual exploitation from being properly discussed. Professional jealousies between organisations also prevented effective action.

There was "denial" that such events could happen in Rotherham and issues of ethnicity were "played down" by senior managers. "Almost all" the perpetrators were described by victims as being of Pakinstani origin, but the authorities "wanted to play down ethnic dimensions... for fear of being thought racist."

Professor Jay presents her report

Prof Jay found a series of reports made available to both the council and police raising serious concerns were not apparently acted on, and there had been a series of missed opportunities to understand the scale of the problem since 2002.

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 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.

In response to Prof Jay's report, Rotherham Council's chief executive Martin Kimber, said: "(It) does not make comfortable reading in its account of the horrific experiences of some young people in the past, and I would like to reiterate our sincere apology to those who were let down when they needed help.

"I commissioned the independent review to understand fully what went wrong, why it went wrong and to ensure that the lessons learnt in Rotherham mean these mistakes can never happen again.

"The report confirms our services have improved significantly over the last five years and are stronger today than ever before. This is important because it allows me to reassure young people and families that should anyone raise concerns we will take them seriously and provide them with the support they need."

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