“Hundreds of suspects” in Rotherham child sex abuse investigation

The National Crime Agency said 32 Operation Stovewood officers were examining 92 boxes of evidence relating to Rotherham abuse, including 47 relating to the work of the Risky Business project.

NCA Director Trevor Pearce (pictured) said: “An examination of the material reviewed by Operation Stovewood so far has identified a significant number of potential offenders.

“The current figure is in the low hundreds.

“It is clear that some details provided will be duplicates of other details, names, nick-names or street names.

“Others may not prove to be offenders at all, or may be witnesses to abuse.

“The information established from these reports will form part of the investigation and  it will be some time before we are able to put a more precise figure on the number of people who have been involved, directly or otherwise, in the grooming and sexual exploitation  of children.”

Steve Baldwin, Senior Investigating Officer for Operation Stovewood said: “The abuse that has taken place in Rotherham is horrific.

“We have gathered a huge amount of information which details some very disturbing events

“Work to identify all victims of non-familial CSE in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013 is ongoing.

“I would say that Alexis Jay’s estimate of 1,400 victims remains a very good assessment.

“We will prioritise action against suspects who may continue to pose any risk of harm today and those who have caused most harm in the past.

“We will examine all allegations of abuse and, most importantly, we will listen to victims.”

The NCA said the number of officers working on Operation Stovewood was expected to increase over the next couple of months and “continue to flex according to the needs of the investigation”.