Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) said that it will take over a grooming gang investigation from the South Yorkshire Police after the force came under fire for investigating itself amid accusations that some of its officers were complicit in the sexual exploitation of children and had personally raped young girls.
A team of officers from the NCA’s Operation Stovewood will take the lead in the investigation into “allegations of child sexual abuse by former South Yorkshire Police officers” after the force requested Britain’s equivalent of the FBI to take over the investigation.
It came after allegations from victims of the predominantly Pakistani Muslim grooming gangs in Rotherham, who accused members of the South Yorkshire Police of collaborating with the child rape networks and of sexual abuse. One victim accused former Police Constable Hassan Ali and another unnamed officer of raping her in the back of a police car as a child.
The allegations threw into question the police force’s Operation Linden into sexual exploitation, with critics claiming that the South Yorkshire Police could not be trusted to investigate its own officers due to potential bias and likely conflicts of interest.
Professor Alexis Jay, whose 2014 report found that around 1,400 mostly young white girls were sexually abused by mainly Pakistani Muslims in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013, said last month that she was “shocked” the SYP was investigating itself.
“In far too many cases, the priority for the institution, of whatever kind, is to protect their reputation rather than prioritising the welfare of children and the devastating effect that sexual abuse can have,” she said.
Following the critiques, the National Crime Agency said that it would take over the investigation.
The head of the NCA’s Operation Stovewood, Philip Marshall, said: “The National Crime Agency will ensure that victims remain at the heart of this investigation, as we continue the extensive work that South Yorkshire Police has begun.
“Though our investigation will be independent of South Yorkshire Police, we will work closely with the force and the Independent Office for Police Conduct to ensure that victims receive the best service and support as the investigation is transferred to us.
“I encourage any further victims, or anyone with information that might help our investigation, to please contact the National Crime Agency by calling our 24-hour phone line or emailing the investigation team. Alternatively they can contact the Independent Office for Police Conduct.”
The Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC) police watchdog has also previously come under criticism after a multi-million pound, eight-year investigation into the Rotherham grooming gangs failed to hold any police officer meaningfully accountable for the failure to safeguard young girls.
This came despite the report finding egregious failures on behalf of South Yorkshire Police officers, many of whom were found to have blamed the young girls for their abuse and that they were “consenting” despite being well under the age of consent. A former detective sergeant was cited as saying that the young girls were “worldly-wise and not meek and mild victims”.
Another officer was found to have told the mother of a grooming victim that it had become fashionable for young girls in the area to have an “older Asian boyfriend” and that she would eventually “grow out of it”. A father was separately told by the force that his 15-year-old daughter’s sexual assault would teach her a “lesson”.
The IOPC had also previously found that the police force was hesitant to confront the mostly Pakistani Muslim grooming gangs for fear of stoking “racial tensions” in the multicultural area.
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