The Telford Sexual Exploitation Independent Inquiry, key agencies dismissed exploitation as “child prostitution,” and both child abuse and exploitation were ignored.
Local authorities and agencies were aware of the abuse at the time it occurred but did not investigate, leaving children unprotected and “emboldening” the perpetrators.
In findings published on Tuesday, unnecessary suffering and even deaths of children could have been avoided if West Mercia Police (WMP) had “done its most basic job” in responding to reports of such crime.
The inquiry presided over by Tom Crowther QC, has examined harrowing evidence as well as statements from survivors and victims detailing their abuse.
Hundreds of girls as young as 11 were gang-raped, trafficked, beaten, and sold for sex.
Survivors who have come forward say they sought help from authorities but were scared when they were told the police couldn’t help them.
The report’s key findings were: Over a thousand Telford children were exploited over decades; obvious child sexual exploitation was ignored; information was not properly shared between agencies; key agencies dismissed child exploitation as “child prostitution”; key agencies blamed children, not perpetrators, for exploitation; exploitation was not investigated due to racial anxiety, and teachers and youth workers were discouraged from reporting.
The CSE response was driven by committed individuals rather than top-down directives.
Even after Operation Chalice, WMP and the Council reduced their specialised Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) teams to almost nothing in order to save money.
The investigation was dubbed Operation Chalice, and two Telford brothers were among those imprisoned. A court heard that between March 2008 and December 2009, the brothers sexually abused, trafficked, and prostituted, or attempted to prostitute, four teenagers.
According to the report, the most common way children were exploited was through the “boyfriend” model, in which a child met a man who persuaded them to become his girlfriend.
It was claimed that perpetrators sought out “vulnerable” children and began giving them rides, buying them food, alcohol, or cigarettes, which led to the children engaging in sexual activity with the men as a “favour” in exchange for the gifts.
The majority of those involved in the abuse did not use contraception, and “pregnancies were expected to be (and in many cases were) terminated.” Some of those abused bore the perpetrator’s children.
In several cases, victims were threatened with death if they attempted to stop the abuse.
“Today is a very important day for victims and survivors of CSE, not just in Telford but right across the country because this report is damning, it is devastating,” said Lucy Allan, MP for Telford, who has been campaigning on the issue since 2016.
There are clear patterns that existed long before this report was commissioned that people were aware of CSE, we had high-profile court cases in Telford, and we should have learned from them, but we clearly did not.”
The worst part is that victims’ and survivors’ voices were not heard or taken seriously, which should never have happened.”
West Mercia Police Assistant Chief Constable Richard Cooper expressed his condolences to the survivors and all those affected in Telford.
“While no evidence of corruption was found, our actions fell far short of the assistance and protection you should have received from us; it was unacceptable; we let you down.” “It is critical that we now take the time to critically and carefully consider the report’s content and the recommendations that have been made,” he said.
He stated that the force now has teams dedicated to preventing and combating child exploitation and that it works better with organisations to protect children.
