Investigation into Rochdale child sexual exploitation finds failings by council and police
An independent review has found failings by Rochdale Borough Council and Greater Manchester Police to protect children at risk of sexual exploitation.
The report, produced by Malcolm Newsam CBE and Gary Ridgway at the request of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Greater Manchester, found “compelling” evidence of “widespread organised sexual exploitation” of children in Rochdale from 2004 onwards.
It also found a failure by the council’s children’s services and Greater Manchester Police (GMP) to protect them.
The report noted that by 2012, the council and police were “aware of approximately 127 potential victims” which had been referred by the Crisis Intervention Team. However, these “had not been acted on over the years”.
Investigators established that Sara Rowbotham, Coordinator of the NHS sexual health service in Rochdale and the Crisis Intervention Team “repeatedly shared their significant concerns during this period with the police and children’s social care.”
Rowbotham had previously been criticised in two serious case overview reports published a decade ago for not following child protection procedures and not communicating information on cases to social workers and police.
However, the report concluded: “For several years, Sara Rowbotham and her colleagues were lone voices in raising concerns about the sexual exploitation and abuse of these children.
“Both GMP and Rochdale Council failed to respond appropriately to these concerns, and it has been a gross misrepresentation to tarnish the reputation of this small group of professionals by suggesting they were in some way complicit in this failure.”
Greater Manchester Combined Authority revealed that “significant progress” had been made through ‘Operation Lytton’, which is investigating non-recent multi-victim multi-offender child sexual exploitation in Rochdale between 2000 and 2008. So far, 37 suspects have been charged with 303 offences.
In response to the report, Rochdale Council leader Councillor Neil Emmott said: “We are deeply sorry that the people who were at Rochdale Council during the period 2004 to 2013 did not recognise nor acknowledge the very serious failures that affected the lives of children in our borough and failed to take the necessary action.
“[…] As the current leader of Rochdale Council I want to repeat the apology we have made previously but also to reassure the public that far more rigorous practices are in place today to protect our children. Rochdale was already investigating these historical cases when the Mayor’s review began in 2017 and a number are still ongoing and we want to ensure the perpetrators of these crimes are brought to justice. We will be ever vigilant in our efforts to ensure these awful failures don’t happen again and that children will be protected.
“Every Ofsted inspection since 2014 has concluded that Rochdale responds to reports of child sexual exploitation effectively through our dedicated multi-agency Sunrise Team. We have offered and continue to offer support to those survivors of child sexual exploitation in Rochdale.”
Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Stephen Watson said: “It remains to be a matter of profound regret that victims of child sexual exploitation in Rochdale in the early 2000s were failed by Greater Manchester Police – to them, I apologise. Today, I also recognise the plight of Maggie Oliver and Sara Rowbotham - who advocated for victims and survivors when no one else did, and ultimately enabled the review and publication of this report.
“Whilst the report rightfully vindicates Maggie and Sara and reinforces the importance of the changes we have already made – many with Maggie’s support, it remains to be said that the current prevention of and response to child sexual exploitation in Rochdale and across Greater Manchester has been overhauled since the early 2000s to ensure that victims and survivors are cared for and receive the expected level of service.”
Lottie Winson
