Rotherham responds to Casey grooming report

A national inquiry has been ordered by Prime Minister Kier Starmer but in Rotherham, where the scandal first broke, the National Crime Agency has had a team of almost 200 officers working for years on Operation Stovewood.

That is a bespoke investigation into historic child sexual abuse cases in the town, which is still putting defendants before the courts.

Council leader Chris Read said the anger expressed by Baroness Louise Casey about the scale of the problem was “ours too”.

He said there “will need to be significant resources attached to this activity, not just in the short term, but in perpetuity.

“In Rotherham, the criminal investigations into abusers that are still ongoing ten years later have largely been conducted by nearly 200 dedicated officers.

“It is easy to imagine that it will require thousands of such officers to meet the challenge across Britain.”

The Casey report follows her own investigation into Rotherham, in 2015.

“We have come a long way since then,” he said.

“Indeed, Barness Casey notes that Rotherham is now a completely different council, and South Yorkshire Police have received commendation.

“But of course those women failed in the past continue to live with the consequences of that failure.

“It is now inescapable that there must be significant activity to review cases, bring about new criminal enquiries, and to look more closely at towns and cities of particular concern.”

Rotherham MP Sarah Champion responded to the report with powerful words about the extent of grooming nationally - stating any area denying the activities of gangs must be ‘in denial’.

She said: “The Casey report confirms what many of us have feared for years; the appalling abuse of children that occurred in Rotherham was by no means unique.

“No one can say they are shocked by this report.

“Child sexual exploitation by gangs, at scale and following a near identical pattern, has been exposed across the country for years.

“Had those in authority listened to the victims, this vile crime may have been dealt with before it became a national epidemic.

“The fact victims and survivors were ignored, belittled and even criminalised should be to all of our eternal shame.

‘The Casey Report represents an opportunity, however belatedly, to face the truth head on and to ensure our children are finally protected from Grooming Gangs.

“Anywhere that says this is not happening in their area, is in my opinion, in denial, and needs a full-scale investigation.

“We need reassurance that cover-ups did not occur, and if they did, that those responsible will be held to account.”

South Yorkshire Police have said they remain committed to ensuring their work against child sexual exploitation continued to evolve, to follow best-practice.

South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard has just appointed a deputy to take control of policing issues, but chose to speak himself, stating: “I know Louise will have been fearless and unwavering in her commitment to justice.

“This was our experience of her work here in South Yorkshire, which challenged the systems in place at the time and the complacency that had governed the oversight and approach to child sexual exploitation.”