Senior Officers 'still Target Other Crimes Above Child Grooming'

[Jeevan]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/conservative/11515205/Sajid-Javid-The-cultural-problem-among-Asian-Muslim-men.html

Sajid Javid: The 'cultural' problem among Asian Muslim men Sajid Javid, the culture secretary, says Muslim communities in parts of Britain have a 'cultural' problem that allows women to be viewed as commodities

[Jeevan]

[Jeevan]

http://www.independent.ie/world-news/three-paedophilelinked-churches-in-australia-burned-down-in-three-days-31111901.html

Three paedophile-linked churches in Australia burned down in three days

Jonathan Pearlman

Published 01/04/2015 | 18:09

• Share

Open Gallery 1 St James Catholic church in Brighton, Australia Credit: Nicole Garmston

Three churches in the Australian city of Melbourne – all linked to prominent paedophile priests – have been burnt in the past three days in what is suspected to be a series of revenge attacks.

The smart way to trade

Trade online with just 1 click! Start now with a free £10K Demo.

trading212.com/Risk-to-Your-Capital

Did Jesus Really Die?

Did Jesus Rise From THe Dead? Scholars Examine The Facts

y-jesus.com

Ads by Google

• Share

Police believe the fires are suspicious but have so far found no links between them.

The latest church to be destroyed was St Mary’s Catholic Church, one of several parishes in which Kevin O’Donnell, a notorious paedophile, preyed on children during a 50-year career in Melbourne.

The fire started about 2:30am, local time on Tuesday.

O’Donnell, then aged 78, was finally charged and pleaded guilty in 1995 to indecently assaulting ten boys and two girls, aged between eight and 15.

He spent 15 months in jail and was freed in 1996 before dying the following year.

Two other churches damaged earlier this week were both linked to Ronald Pickering, who preyed on young boys from 1978 to 1993 before fleeing to Britain.

Pickering was never prosecuted but died about three years ago.

At least five of his victims killed themselves.

Peter Elliott, a regional Catholic bishop in the state of Victoria, said he did not believe the fires were started by a sex abuse victim but by someone with a “very disturbed mind”.

“I don’t see any pattern so far, except a very disturbed person,” he told Fairfax Media.

The fires at St Mary’s church in Dandenong, St James Church in Brighton and St Mary’s in St Kilda East occurred just days before the busy Easter services.

Father Declan O’Brien, the parish priest in Dandenong, said he was woken by smoke alarms and discovered a scene that was “something reminiscent of the Towering Inferno”.

“I’m trying my best to hold onto the Christian principle of forgiveness and at the moment as a human being, it’s very hard to do that,” he told ABC News.“I can understand people being angry. I just don’t get why even if they’re angry it’s justifiable that you’d attack a church building.”

A national royal commission into child sex abuse has uncovered horrific crimes and cover-ups at churches, schools and other religious and communal organisations throughout Australia.

A separate Victorian parliamentary inquiry was completed in 2013 and found that thousands of children were abused in the state by the Catholic church and other organisations.

Telegraph.co.uk

[Jeevan]

http://www.channel4.com/news/mi5-kincora-richard-kerr-brian-gemmell-child-abuse

Tuesday 07 April 2015 UK

Did MI5 know about child abuse but fail to act?

A former army intelligence officer says he alerted MI5 to abuse at Kincora boys' home, but was told to stop digging. It is not the first time MI5 has been accused of covering up child abuse.

Channel 4 News brought Kincora victim Richard Kerr face to face with Brian Gemmell, who worked as an army intelligence officer in Belfast in the 1970s. Mr Gemmell said he put in an official report about Kincora to a senior MI5 officer, but to his astonishment he claims he was ordered to stop digging and forget about it.

Speaking to Mr Kerr, he said: "That's the thing that hits me - that if I really pushed the thing through in 75-76, you could have been rescued. I'm sorry." Channel 4 News has contacted MI5 via the Home Office and is awaiting a response to Mr Gemmell's claims.

Mr Gemmell said he believed what happened at Kincora decades ago should be brought within the scope of the over-arching, judge-led inquiry Home Secretary Theresa May set up "to consider the extent to which state and non-state institutions have failed in their duty of care to protect children from sexual abuse and exploitation".

The inquiry was established following claims that children had been abused by politicians, public officials and celebrities over many decades. In July 2014, Mrs May indicated that it would be able to study files held by MI5.

Former Liberal MP Cyril Smith, who died in 2010, was said to have abused children during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. In 2012, the Crown Prosecution Service said he should have been charged, while Greater Manchester Police said although he could not be convicted posthumously, "from the overwhelming evidence we have, it is right and proper we should publicly recognise that young boys were sexually and physically abused".

His Labour successor alleges MI5 was involved in suppressing the allegations at the time. So what evidence is there that MI5 was involved in a cover-up, as alleged?

October 2012 - 'powerful paedophile network'

In the Commons, Labour MP Tom Watson called on the police to examine allegations of a "powerful paedophile network linked to parliament and Number 10". He did not name any individuals, but his comments sparked a wider examination about whether political figures were involved in abuse - and whether they used their connections to cover this up.

September 2013 - MI5 'held on to' Smith evidence

Channel 4 Dispatches reported that the security services had held on to evidence of Smith's abuse in Lancashire in the 1960s. Former Lancashire Special Branch detective Tony Robinson told Dispatches he was contacted by MI5, who requested he send them the file by special courier. Smith's Liberals propped up the Labour government in the late 1970s - the so-called Lib-Lab pact.

April 2014 - MI5 'put pressure on police'

Labour's Simon Danczuk, a successor to Smith as MP for Rochdale, published a book, Smile for the Camera: The Double Life of Cyril Smith, saying MI5 and Special Branch put pressure on the police to drop their investigation into Smith's activities. Mr Danczuk first raised the Smith case in the Commons in 2012 after alleged victims contacted him.

July 2014 - abuse inquiry will see MI5 files

Mrs May implied that the judge-led inquiry she set up into historic child abuse would be able to see MI5 files. In response to a question from Tom Watson, she said: "My intention is that the fullest possible access should be made to government papers in relation to these matters. Where there are files where there are certain issues around who can have access to those files we will need to ensure that we have an appropriate means of ensuring that the information is available to the inquiry panel."

November 2014 - MI5 searches files

The Wanless report into whether there had been a cover-up of the Home Office's handling of abuse allegations in the 1980s concluded that there was no evidence 114 missing official files had been "deliberately or systematically removed or destroyed to cover up organised child abuse".

At the request of the Wanless inquiry, MI5 carried out a search of its own files, but said it had not come across anything relevant to the review. Mrs May told MPs: "I cannot stand here and say the Home Office was not involved in a cover-up in the 1980s and that is why I am determined to get to the truth of this."

The inquiry was prompted by the hunt for a "dossier" handed to Leon Brittain in 1984, when he was home secretary, about alleged paedophile abuse in Westminster in the 1980s. Lord Brittan, who died in January, was himself accused of being involved in the abuse of children in the 1980s. He always strongly denied the allegations.

February 2015 - MI5 'knew about Kincora abuse'

Gary Hoy, who was abused at the Kincora children's home in Belfast in the 1970s, was granted permission to launch a legal challenge against the government's decision to exclude Kincora from its judge-led abuse inquiry.

He said MI5 knew about the abuse he and others suffered, but failed to do anything about it. The allegation is that by allowing the abuse to go on, the security services would be able to blackmail powerful paedophiles. In 1981, three members of staff at the home were jailed for sexually abusing 11 boys.

March 2015 - agent 'caught on camera'

BBC Newsnight said it had been told that a police operation into alleged abuse by Smith was scrapped shortly after he was arrested in the 1980s. According to an unnamed source, officers gathered evidence, including video footage, from a flat in south London. Smith was allegedly one of those caught on camera, along with a senior member of the intelligence agencies.

March 2015 - victims 'threatened' by MI5

Investigative journalist Don Hale told Channel 4 News he had given the police evidence from interviews he had carried out with Smith and Brittan.
He said some victims and whisteblowers who had approached him had been "threatened" by police officers and MI5, "who've warned them not to talk to me or any other journalist and warned also that they might lose their pensions and about the officials secrets act and this is happening even up to the last few weeks".

March 2015 - 'intimidated' by police

Speaking from the US, Kincora victim Richard Kerr, who says he was trafficked from Belfast to be abused in London, told Channel 4 News police had "intimidated" him because they did not want him to give evidence at the 1981 trial.

April 2015 - 'MI5 told about abuse'

Former army intelligence officer, Brian Gemmell, who worked in Northern Ireland in the 1970s, told Channel 4 News he put in an official report about Kincora to a senior MI5 officer, but to his astonishment he claims he was ordered to stop digging and forget about it. Speaking to Kincora victim Richard Kerr, he said: "That's the thing that hits me - that if I really pushed the thing through in 75-76, you could have been rescued. I'm sorry."

Mr Gemmell told Channel 4 News he believed what happened at Kincora decades ago should be brought within the scope of the major child abuse inquiry announced by Theresa May.

Asked why, he said: "I think two words - Richard Kerr. I think Richard's transporting over to the United Kingdom mainland to be abused, rather than just being abused in Northern Ireland, speaks volumes. It ties the two together." Asked if he believed claims that efforts were still being made to cover up what happened, he said: "I do."

Article Tags

Channel 4 News, MI5, Politics, UK

[Jeevan]

Now we know why the Police 'Still Target Other Crimes Above Child Grooming' they don't want to end up arresting their own colleagues\friends!!!

Police sergeant pleads guilty to abusing teenage girl

A BRITISH Transport Police sergeant has pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl.

Mick Defries, 58, of Barnham, appeared at Lewes Crown Court today (December 12) for a preliminary hearing and pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault of a female child under 13.

He has been remanded in custody and will be sentenced on January 10.

A British Transport Police spokesman said: “BTP can confirm that Sergeant Defries, who has served with the force for ten years, has been suspended from duty following his arrest and charge by Sussex Police.

“BTP’s professional standard’s department is assisting Sussex Police with their investigation.”

http://www.chichester.co.uk/news/top-stories/latest/police-sergeant-pleads-guilty-to-abusing-teenage-girl-1-5746473

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/569136/South-Yorkshire-Police-Rotherham-officer-16-counts-indecent-images-children

Rotherham police officer charged with possessing child pornography A POLICE officer in Rotherham has been charged with 16 counts of possessing indecent images of children.

By Helen Barnett

PUBLISHED: 16:16, Wed, Apr 8, 2015 | UPDATED: 18:39, Wed, Apr 8, 2015

219

GETTY

A police officer based at Rotherham will appear in court tomorrow

PC Lee Lucas, 38, who is based in Rotherham, has been served a summons ordering him to attend court tomorrow in connection with possession of illegal images.

The charge comes after South Yorkshire Police carried out an internal investigation through its Professional Standards Department.

The investigation was supervised by police watchdog the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

Lucas has been suspended from his duties as the investigation continues.

It is not yet known when the allegations took place or how long Mr Lucas has worked with South Yorkshire Police.

A spokesperson for the force said: “This is the result of an internal investigation by the force's Professional Standards Department supervised by the Independent Police Complaints Commission.”

Lucas will appear at Sheffield Magistrates’ Court tomorrow.

Although not related, the charge will come as another blow for South Yorkshire Police who are currently facing a major investigation over how it handled up to 1,400 allegations of child sex abuse.

More than 100 allegations have been made against 42 South Yorkshire Police officers.

[Jeevan]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-32329924

Lord Janner will not face child sex abuse charges, CPS says

• 6 hours ago
• From the section Leicester

Jump media player

Media player help

Out of media player. Press enter to return or tab to continue.

Media caption The decision not to prosecute Lord Janner has led to a furious reaction from campaigners for child abuse victims, as Tom Symonds reports

Labour peer Lord Janner will not face child sex abuse charges because the severity of his dementia makes him unfit to stand trial, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has said.

The abuse allegations relate to residents in Leicestershire children's homes between 1970 and the 1980s.

Police condemned the CPS decision as "wrong", and the Labour Party has suspended the 86-year-old peer.

Lord Janner "is entirely innocent of any wrongdoing", his family has said.

A retired High Court judge will now review the CPS's handling of the case.

'Extremely disappointing'

More than a dozen individuals made allegations to police relating to Greville Janner, the CPS said.

The "core allegation" was that as MP for Leicester West at the time, Lord Janner befriended the manager of a children's care home to allow him access to children so he could "perpetrate serious sexual offences on children", the CPS said.

Leicestershire Police interviewed more than 2,000 people throughout the course of their investigation, and a "comprehensive file of evidence" was submitted to the CPS.

Lord Janner pictured in 1996 - a year before he retired as Leicester West MP

In a statement, Director of Public Prosecutions Alison Saunders said there was enough evidence to charge him with:

• Fourteen indecent assaults on a male under 16 between 1969 and 1988
• Two indecent assaults between 1984 and 1988
• Four counts of buggery of a male under 16 between 1972 and 1987
• Two counts of buggery between 1977 and 1988

She said the CPS were "wrong" not to prosecute the Cardiff-born peer following investigations in 1991 and 2007.

"The police made the decision not to pursue Greville Janner in 2002, which again we have looked at and in our view it was wrong," she told the BBC's World at One.

"There are real lessons to be learnt... if we had the evidence we now have earlier, I think the position would have been very different when Greville Janner's medical condition was not as it is today," Ms Saunders said.

Lord Janner was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2009, the CPS said.

Assistant Chief Constable Roger Bannister of Leicestershire Police said the force had invited the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) to look into "what happened in the early 2000s" and inquiries are ongoing.

"Why was the decision different? Could it have been? Should it have been? If that's the case then I would be the first to say that's regrettable," ACC Bannister said.

Last year a former detective sergeant with Leicestershire Police, Mick Creedon - now chief constable of Derbyshire Police - told a national newspaper that in 1989 he was ordered not to arrest Lord Janner and not to search his home.

Mick Creedon said he was told not to arrest Lord Janner or search his home

Responding to the CPS's decision, the force said it was "worried" about its impact.

ACC Bannister said he believed it was "the wrong one" and it would do little to support and encourage victims of sexual abuse to come forward.

He said: "I am extremely worried about the impact the decision not to prosecute him will have on those people [who came forward].

"More widely I am worried about the message this decision sends out to others, both past and present, who have suffered and are suffering sexual abuse.

"We are exploring what possible legal avenues there may be to challenge this decision, and victims themselves have a right to review under a CPS procedure."

Lord Janner, pictured here with former Prime Minister Tony Blair, has been suspended by the Labour Party

One man, whose claims that he was assaulted by the peer were investigated by Leicestershire Police, said the decision was a disgrace and "if he was an everyday person with a normal life and job, justice would [have] been served".

Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls has said Labour "acted swiftly and decisively" to suspend Lord Janner from the party following the CPS announcement.

He said the allegations were "very serious" but he understood the CPS's decision.

But Sir Clive Loader, Leicestershire Police and Crime Commissioner, said the decision was "not just wrong" but "wholly perverse" and "contrary to any notion of natural justice".

Explaining its decision, the CPS said there is no treatment for Lord Janner's condition and there is no current or future risk of offending.

His condition is "rapidly becoming more severe" and requires continuous care both day and night, the statement said.

"His evidence could not be relied upon in court and he could not have any meaningful engagement with the court process, and the court would find it impossible to proceed."

Ms Saunders said the decision will be "extremely disappointing to complainants" and she has written to all of them.

Last year the CPS announced it was considering evidence against Lord Janner as part of an inquiry into allegations of historical child abuse.

The investigation was linked to Frank Beck, who was found guilty of sexually and physically abusing more than 100 children in the 1970s and 1980s.

Beck, who ran children's homes in Leicestershire, was given five life prison sentences and died in jail.

Clive Coleman, BBC Legal Correspondent

The Code for Crown Prosecutors says that, when assessing if a prosecution is in the public interest, consideration should be given "as to whether the suspect is, or was at the time of the offence, suffering from any significant mental or physical ill health as in some circumstances this may mean that it is less likely that a prosecution is required".

If they cannot understand the difference between guilty and not guilty, cannot give instructions to their lawyers and so cannot test the evidence against them, prosecutors will not generally charge them.

That is small comfort to the alleged victims of Greville Janner, but it is the system operating to ensure that the mentally frail do not face unfair trials that they cannot comprehend.

An NSPCC spokesman said "something went badly wrong" in the way the allegations were handled and "we need to be reassured this will never happen again".

In a statement Lord Janner's family described him as a "man of great integrity and high repute with a long and unblemished record of public service".

"As the Crown Prosecution Service indicated today, this decision does not mean or imply that any of the allegations that have been made are established or that Lord Janner is guilty of any offence," the family said.

In 1991, Lord Janner made statements in Parliament asserting his innocence after a man claimed he had abused him.

He will remain a member of the House of Lords until his death or until he formally retires under reforms passed last year.

Retired High Court Judge Sir Richard Henriques will conduct an independent review into the CPS's decision making and how it handled the case, she said.

Share this story About sharing

[Jeevan]

Whilst it is none of our business what consenting adults get up to behind bedroom doors, this Senior police office who is a public servant is carrying on as if his work of place is his Baba's family business? It is no wonder the authorities have ignored grooming that has occured on a industrial scale when their minds are elsewhere?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3065984/Senior-police-officer-investigated-ordering-pants-fetish-website-having-delivered-station.html

Senior police officer investigated after ordering pants from a fetish website and having them delivered to his station

• Detective Sergeant Mark Burns accused of ordering thong to his station
• He had the used pants sent to his Preston HQ so his wife wouldn't find out
• Officer investigated after claims he ordered panties to station in the past

By Callum Paton For Mailonline

Published: 08:55, 3 May 2015 | Updated: 09:06, 3 May 2015

106

View comments

A senior police officer is being investigated after he ordered a used thong from a fetish website and had the dirty knickers delivered to his police station.

Detective Sergeant Mark Burns allegedly made contact with a girl online and bought her used size six thong for £20.

The woman told the Mirror that Burns asked for the pants to be sent to Preston Police Operational HQ where he worked so that his wife would not find out.

+3

Detective Sergeant Burns asked for some used hot pink thongs 'pollypanties' had worn for two days and paid £20 for them

+3

The senior police officer is now being investigated after it emerged he had ordered the underwear to Preston Police Operational HQ (pictured) to avoid being caught by his wife

He is now reported to have admitted that he had panties posted to the HQ in the past.

The woman, who is 20 years old, and operates using the handle ‘polliepanties’ on a fetish website spoke of her shock when she was messaged by a policeman.

‘It was even worse when he asked to send it to the station,’ she said, adding she felt it was not the kind of thing the police should be doing.

RELATED ARTICLES

• Previous
• 1
• Next

• Health fears over Manhattan S&M BLOODLETTING parties where... Cannibal cop dishes on his 'deviant sexual life' online but...

Share this article

Share

Online, Detective Sergeant Burns asked her to send him pants she had worn for two days and requested a video, the young woman clams.

She said she agreed to the transaction to make a bit of extra cash and took a couple of pictures of herself wearing the underwear, posting them on the website.

Alongside the images ‘polliepanties’ wrote ‘selling all my used panties to all you dirty boys,’ adding that they could have them however they wanted them.

She claims she received a message from the police officer this week complimenting her bottom.

After she sent him some pictures he asked for some hot-pink thongs she had worn.

+3

The young woman claimed Burns explained to her that he had ordered underwear to his police HQ in Preston (pictured) in the past

Explaining that he wanted the pants sent to the police station so that they would avoid the attention of his wife, Detective Sergeant Burns then said he had ordered underwear to the station before and provided the address.

He is understood to have worked on senstivie cases in the Lancashire area in the past including an historic sex abuse investigation and a sexual assault at a hotel.

Lancashire Police has said the matter was referred to its Professional Standards Department which has undertaken an investigation.

It added that the officer has been placed on alternative duties while the investigation is carried out.

Share or comment on this article

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3065984/Senior-police-officer-investigated-ordering-pants-fetish-website-having-delivered-station.html#ixzz3Z4cVr6Y4
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

[Jeevan]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3068309/Police-council-told-child-sex-abuse-Rotherham-12-YEARS-AGO.html

Revealed: Authorities warned of child sex abuse in Rotherham 12 YEARS AGO but did nothing 'because police priorities were burglary and car crime'

• Documents handed to police and council in 2003 told of widespread abuse
• Warnings over grooming were repeated in 2006, but no action was taken
• The huge scale of the exploitation of children did not emerge until last year
• Author of original reports says she was told police priority was car crime

By Richard Spillett for MailOnline

Published: 07:19, 5 May 2015 | Updated: 16:26, 5 May 2015

1k shares

114

View comments

Police and council officials in Rotherham were warned that gangs of men were grooming children for sex as long ago as 2003 but failed to act, it emerged today.

South Yorkshire Police and Rotherham Council were given a list of suspects along with a report that linked drug-dealing and 'significant' child abuse in the Yorkshire town.

The warnings were repeated in another report three years later, but no action was taken against the gangs trafficking children.

The expert who produced both reports - which were released for the first time today - says police told her such crimes were 'awful' but the force's priorities were burglary and car crime.

Scroll down for video

+7

Police and council officials were told of child sex abuse in Rotherham in 2003 but failed to act, it has emerged

The 2003 report stated: 'It is a commonly held belief, from a number of different agencies, that there are some drug dealers who are sexually exploiting vulnerable young people.'

It went on: 'It is very evident in Sheffield and Rotherham, where information is received from projects that have been established to tackle the issue, that significant abuse takes place.'

The report noted a number of missed opportunities to catch abusers, including when an 18-year-old woman was charged with theft after she reported being raped by a well-known heroin dealer - but was never questioned about the rape.

Police also took seven months to contact a man who offered his house as an observation post after noticing significant numbers of teenage girls attending his neighbour's home.

Dr Heal said one 13-year-old, from a middle-class family, reported being raped on four separate weekends by a number of men. The perpetrators threatened her and her family into not giving evidence and police were unable to act without statements from the girl.

Another girl said she was kidnapped on a number of successive weekends and repeatedly raped but her father did not feel able to complain because he was too scared.

RELATED ARTICLES

• Previous
• 1
• Next

• Mother-of-two beaten to a pulp by her ex-boyfriend blasts... 'I was raped. It has taken me six months to admit those...

Share this article

Share

Dr Heal warned police and partner agencies not to be complacent and made a number of recommendations.

The second report, in 2006, warned that abusers were able to carry on with 'impunity' across South Yorkshire, with particular problems in Sheffield and Rotherham.

It stated: 'Sheffield has both an established on-street prostitution scene and a very entrenched sexual exploitation problem.

'There have been reports of sexual and physical violence perpetrated against teenage schoolgirls and adult women in Sheffield.'

The report said some of the main perpetrators appeared to be pimps and drug dealers, including an Asian family in Rotherham and members of the Afro-Caribbean community in Sheffield.

The reports, made public for the first time today after a freedom of information request by the Sheffield Star revealed, were written by ex-South Yorkshire Police drugs analyst Angie Heal, who has said she 'cannot fathom' why the abuse was not stopped.

+7

+7

Former council leader Roger Stone (left) and Shaun Wright (right), who became Police and Crime Commissioner for South Yorkshire after working for the council, both resigned over the scandal

She said: 'It definitely wasn't a priority. There was a whole mix of issues. It was around blaming the victims and not understanding the issue.

'I can't understand why anyone told about the multiple rape of children wouldn't respond effectively to that. There was a lack of common sense in applying basic policing practices and following the law in these cases. It was in the 'too hard to deal with' tray.'

Dr Heal added: 'A senior officer said to me at one point, it was awful but burglary and car crime were policing priorities set by the government.

CHILD SEX GANG PROBLEMS EXTENDED TO SHEFFIELD

The newly released reports show the issue of child grooming extended beyond Rotherham into neighbouring Sheffield.

A 2006 report found Sheffield had an 'established on-street prostitution scene and a very entrenched sexual exploitation problem'.

It also recorded reports of 'sexual and physical violence perpetrated against teenage schoolgirls' in the city.

The report said some of the main perpetrators appeared to be pimps and drug dealers, including an Asian family in Rotherham and members of the Afro-Caribbean community in Sheffield.

The report's author Dr Angie Heal said there were differences between what was going on in Sheffield and Rotherham, such as the ethnic background of offenders.

But the lack of police response was similar in both places, she said.

'I am frustrated that nothing was done with the information provided. I just feel so upset and very, very angry.

'The abuse could have been stopped. I feel for the victims and families and frontline staff that tried their best in such horrendous circumstances.'

South Yorkshire police and crime commissioner, the Rev Dr Alan Billings, has promised the findings of Dr Heal will be looked at as part of a planned inquiry into South Yorkshire Police.

He said today that nothing was done about the problems because the girls involved were wrongly seen as prostitutes.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'I don't think any of us at that time understood what grooming was and that this was grooming.

'I think we saw these girls not as victims but as troublesome young people out of control and willing participants.

'We saw it as child prostitution rather than child abuse, and I think that was broadly accepted and that's why it all went wrong.'

Dr Billings confirmed police were prioritising burglary and car theft because of public demands at the time.

South Yorkshire Police said it is holding an ongoing investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission into misconduct issues.

A force spokesman said: 'There has been a significant increase in the number of police officers and staff dedicated to tackling child sexual exploitation and we are absolutely committed to achieving justice, stopping the harm and preventing future offending.

'We have centralised the team of officers involved in ongoing investigations into non-recent allegations of sexual exploitation, some of these investigations are large scale and involve large numbers of potential victims and potential offenders.'

+7

Rev Dr Alan Billings, now South Yorkshire crime commissioner, said police did not know what grooming was

A Rotherham Council spokesman said the council had been unable to find any reference to the reports having been formally considered by the council.

Council leader Roger Stone, who was in charge of the authority from 2003 until 2014, left his post after the abuse scandal was exposed last year.

Shaun Wright was in charge of children's services in Rotherham from 2005 to 2010. He was then Labour's South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner from 2012 to 2014 but was forced to quit because of the widespread child sexual exploitation in the town.

A senior officer said to me at one point, it was awful but burglary and car crime were policing priorities set by the government.

Former police analyst Angie Heal

A spokesman for the council said today: 'Child sexual exploitation is a challenge nationally and locally as we have previously stated.

'It is a dreadful and sad crime. Sheffield has been publishing annual reports for a number of years detailing this and how the Sheffield Safeguarding Children's Board were tackling the issue.

'We continue to use every tool at our disposal to tackle child sexual exploitation and will never be complacent. '

Today's revelations of how warnings were ignored by police and Rotherham council echo comments earlier this year by a Home Office researcher.

Adele Glasman was working within the local authority in 2002 when she raised fears of widespread child exploitation in the town.

She revealed in February that the council sent her on a 'race awareness course' rather than listen to her concerns.

She told the BBC: 'I had every aspect of my professionalism questioned. I had every aspect of my work questioned. I had data removed over a weekend so that I couldn't substantiate my findings.'

Ms Glasman claimed she became the victim of bullying and veiled threats from council staff and police.

Grooming victim: 'Authorities knew for two years' (related)

She said the way the issue was handled has 'cost young people their health, their happiness and in some cases their lives'.

In February, a criminal investigation was launched after a damning report found Labour-run Rotherham Council was still 'in denial' about the 1,400 young girls who were abused in the town over 16 years.

Investigators instructed by the government concluded girls as young as 11 were left to be abused by mainly Asian men between 1997 and 2013 because the council's staff and politicians feared being labelled racist.

The council also had a 'deep-rooted' culture of sexism and bullying where it would 'shoot the messenger' and sought to force whistleblowers into silence or pay them off, it was said.

The report said South Yorkshire Police also failed in its role to protect victims, turning a blind eye to their plight and in many cases holding them responsible.

In one case an officer told a victim: 'Don't worry - you aren't the first girl to be raped by XX and you won't be the last'.

ROTHERHAM CHILD ABUSE: HOW SCANDAL UNFOLDED OVER TWO DECADES

Early to mid 1990s

According to a report published last year, community workers come across examples of child sexual exploitation and find children under the care of the local authority are at risk of being targeted.

1997

The 'Risky Business' youth project is set up to work with people between the ages of 11 and 25 in Rotherham, amid concerns young people are being abused through prostitution.

Late 1990s

Youth workers start to identify vulnerable girls and young women on Rotherham's streets and refer them to children's social care.

Early 2000s

A small group of professionals from key agencies meet children at risk of, or involved in, child sexual exploitation but their work is not properly supported, according to the Jay report.

Senior police and social workers think the extent of the issue is being exaggerated.

2002

A Home Office draft report into child sexual exploitation in Rotherham criticises agencies and says there is a 'high prevalence of young women being coerced and abused through prostitution'.

Police and senior officers at the council are unhappy with the report, claiming some facts are either exaggerated or made up.

+7

Authorities in Rotherham were given repeated warnings about the scale of the issue, but failed to respond

August 2003

A report by strategic drugs analyst Dr Angie Heal, commissioned by South Yorkshire Police, finds there are a 'significant number of girls and some boys who are being sexually exploited' in Rotherham.

April 2007

An investigation into the grooming and sexual abuse of young boys identifies more than 70 alleged victims. A man is convicted of offences against 10 children.

2008

Operation Central is set up to investigate men believed to be involved in child sexual exploitation.

Autumn 2009

Ofsted rates Rotherham's children's services as 'inadequate'.

December 2009

The minister of state for young people and families serves the council with an improvement notice for its children's safeguarding services.

2010

Five men given lengthy jail terms after they are found guilty of grooming teenage girls for sex.

April 2010

The local Safeguarding Children Board sets up a child sexual exploitation sub group.

September 2012

The Times publishes an investigation revealing that a confidential police report had warned thousands of child sexual exploitation crimes were being committed in South Yorkshire by networks of Asian men.

The newspaper also reports that agencies in the town had extensive knowledge of such crimes for decades. South Yorkshire Police denies claims in article.

November 2012

Shaun Wright wins election to become South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner. He states that tackling child sexual exploitation is one of his priorities.

+7

The full scale of the abuse was laid bare in a devastating report by Professor Alexis Jay last year

August 2013

Four women sue the council for failing to protect them when they were children.

August 2014

Professor Alexis Jay publishes commissioned report into child abuse in Rotherham, revealing more than 1,400 children had been subjected to rape, violence and trafficking between 1997 and 2013.

Rotherham Borough Council leader Roger Stone steps down with immediate effect. Mr Wright issues a statement saying he will stay in his job as PCC, despite calls for him to stand down.

Home Secretary Theresa May backs calls for Mr Wright to step down and his deputy PCC Tracey Cheetham announces she is resigning because she is 'unable to continue' in her role.

September 2014

Mr Wright resigns.

The Labour Party suspends four of its members pending an investigation: former leader of the council Roger Stone, ex-deputy council leader, Jahangir Akhtar, Gwendoline Russell, and Shaukat Ali.

December 2014

National Crime Agency (NCA) begins investigation into child sexual exploitation in Rotherham

February 2015

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles announces new elections in 2016 to replace Rotherham Council's 'wholly dysfunctional' political leadership.

The town where no one listened: The two reports which exposed how more than a decade of child sex abuse was ignored by those in power

The full scale of what happened in Rotherham was revealed in a council commissioned report by Professor Alexis Jay in August last year.

Professor Jay, an academic and former social worker who chaired an independent inquiry into the abuse, condemned the 'blatant' collective failures by the council's leadership.

She concluded: 'It is hard to describe the appalling nature of the abuse that child victims suffered.'

The landmark report, which exposed widespread failures of the council, police and social services revealed:

- Victims were doused in petrol and threatened with being set alight, terrorised with guns, made to witness brutally-violent rapes and told they would be the next if they spoke out;

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

- One victim described gang rape as 'a way of life';

- Police 'regarded many child victims with contempt';

- Some fathers tried to rescue their children from abuse but were arrested themselves;

- The approximate figure of 1,400 abuse victims is likely to be a conservative estimate of the true scale of abuse.

+7

Rotherham council, whose headquarters are pictured, has previously been found to have been 'in denial'

Louise Casey, director-general for troubled families at the government's Communities Department, was then asked to investigate the council by Mr Pickles.

Her devastating 160-page report, published in February, revealed that:

- Reports of abuse were ignored by the council because it was 'in denial' about the crimes.

- Staff and politicians failed to tackle abuse by Asian gangs 'for fear of being seen as racist'.

- Senior councillors bullied and suppressed staff who highlighted that the abusers were ‘predominantly’ Pakistani.

- Whistleblowers were silenced with pay-offs or 'bullied out of the organisation' if they refused to stay silent.

- Officers ignored warnings from a youth project in town about habitual abuse of children in the town and then shut it down.

- There was a 'a pervading culture of sexism, bullying and silencing debate' at the council.

- The council failed children and is still failing them and has 'taken more care of its reputation than it has its of its most needy'.

- Victims were denied support and justice as social services and police blamed each other for lack of action.

- Even after the grooming scandal was exposed, a serving councillor told the new inquiry he believed the Asian men accused of grooming girls for sex had in reality been ‘fooled’ by girls aged 14 and 15 whose clothing and make-up made them ‘look more adult’.

- One whistleblower branded the council a ‘machine’ which ‘simply exists to cover up and destroy’.

Read more:

• EXCLUSIVE: South Yorkshire Police given list of key Sheffield and Rotherham abuse suspects in 2003 - The Star

Share or comment on this article

[Jeevan]

http://news.sky.com/story/1490903/police-vow-to-provide-justice-over-abuse

Police Vow To 'Provide Justice' Over Abuse

Staffordshire Police are investigating claims made by Esther Baker, who told Sky News she was raped while officers stood guard.

18:22, UK, Tuesday 26 May 2015

Video: 'Cops Stood Guard As I Was Raped'

• Share on Twitter
• Share on Facebook
• Share on Google+
• Share by email

By Tom Parmenter, Sky News Correspondent

Police say they are "in the early stages" of investigating claims that a woman was sexually abused while she was a young girl, as uniformed police officers stood guard.

Waiving her right to anonymity, Esther Baker, 32, spoke exclusively to Sky News about her tormented childhood that saw her sexually abused by men at various locations.

She claimed police officers would stand guard for the perpetrators and on some occasions even joined in the abuse in woodland on Cannock Chase in Staffordshire.

She said: "I got the feeling very much that they were protecting somebody, that they were with one of the men.

"One of them (police officers) I knew from church. There were a few occasions where they would be in uniform and I kind of knew, I learnt that when they were in uniform that it was going to be a rough night.

Video: 'Cops Stood Guard As I Was Raped'

Responding to the claims, Staffordshire Police Assistant Chief Constable Jon Drake said officers were in the early stages of investigating the case and interviewing Ms Baker.

He added: "We are determined to thoroughly gather any evidence which will allow us to bring those who may have been involved to justice, while taking a sensitive approach to supporting the victim throughout.

"We will continue to interview her over the coming days, recognising the horrific nature of what we are investigating.

"To be clear, anyone, regardless of role, who has been involved in criminal offences will be investigated to provide justice for the victim."

He encouraged anyone with information about the allegations - or any other victims of sexual abuse - to contact police on 101 or anonymously through Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.

While Ms Baker has chosen to waive her legal right to anonymity, Mr Drake said police would protect the anonymity of anyone who came forward as a victim of child or sexual abuse.

From the age of six, Ms Baker was taken to be abused by different men on Cannock Chase, at various properties around Staffordshire and beyond.

Other children were often there and sometimes they were given alcohol: "We were all pretty much the same, same ages, we never spoke."

She says the sexual abuse was often filmed and involved men of varying ages from different parts of the country.

She said: "I was brought up in a religious household and one thing that kept me so sure that what they were doing was right was that there were references to people, Lords and a judge.

"I picked up on those names, because I thought one of them must have been God because one of them was 'Our Lord'.

Video: Child Abuse Inquiry Will Be Robust

"I just thought that they were on God's authority."

Decades on, Ms Baker has decided to speak to Sky News in the hope of finding other victims or the police officers who were involved.

She said: "I need them to fill in the gaps that I just don't know, I need people that were adults then but they couldn't stop it for whatever reason, it is time for them to stop it now."

The other children who were allegedly abused on Cannock Chase may also hold vital information.

Ms Baker added: "Every one of us that comes forward will hold a different piece of the puzzle. I can't fill it in on my own."

She said: "I always swore I would never go near the police again - never ... but I have hid it for 20 years, that has not worked, that hasn't taken the fear away - I have got nothing to lose anymore."

Gabrielle Shaw of the National Association for People Abused in Childhood, said Ms Baker’s story was “absolutely harrowing”.

She added: "It's not easy for anyone to come forward and tell their story…but with every survivor who comes forward like Esther Baker, it helps other survivors come forward as well, chips away at the wall of silence."

Ms Shaw said she had seen a "real seachange" in the way police worked with victims of sexual abuse, adding: "They're not swept under the carpet".

A Home Office spokesperson said: "The Home Secretary set up the independent inquiry, under the chairmanship of Justice Goddard, to examine the extent to which abuse has taken place in state and non-state institutions in England and Wales.

"She is confident the inquiry will establish why it was possible for such abuse to take place and challenge individuals and institutions without fear or favour."

[Jeevan]

Arrests should have started over a generation ago!

The Police, CPS, Social Services, Politicians, Churches should still be condemmed unequivocally for their lack of action for generations when it comes to paedophiles, this is not even a start as far as I am concerned!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-33001256

Five charged after Oxford child sex raids

• 50 minutes ago
• From the section Oxford

More than 100 officers from Thames Valley Police were involved in the early-morning operation

Five men have been charged after raids by police investigating child sexual exploitation in Oxford.

More than 100 Thames Valley officers executed warrants at eight properties across the city early on Tuesday. Nine men were arrested.

Three men from Oxford, aged 36, 34 and 37, have been released on police bail until 8 July, police said.

Four of the five charged men are due to appear at Oxford Magistrates Court on Thursday.

They are:

• Qasim Hussain, aged 29, of Hurst Street, Oxford, charged with one count of rape
• Naim Khan, aged 36, of Herschel Crescent, Oxford, charged with two counts of indecent assault, one count of rape, one count of supplying cocaine, one count of supplying heroin, one count of sexual touching, and one count of making an indecent film of a child
• Allah Ditta Yousaf, aged 45, of Bodley Road, Oxford, charged with four counts of indecent assault
• Owais Khan, aged 31, of Belvedere Road, Oxford, charged with one count of indecent assault and five counts of rape
• Assad Hussain, 34, of no fixed abode, charged with six counts of indecent assault and six counts of rape. His court appearance is yet to be scheduled

A further man, aged 44, also from Oxford, has been released on police bail until 15 July.