South Yorkshire Police ordered to compile report on how it is dealing with child sex exploitation cases.A chief constable has said a lack of resources was one of the reasons why some child sex exploitation cases did not result in prosecutions.
South Yorkshire Police CC David Crompton (pictured) said the force did not have sufficient police resources available ten years ago with only three officers devoted to investigating cases - however there are now eight on the team.
Additionally there are around 50 officers who are involved in investigating child abuse issues.
He told the Home Affairs Select Committee difficulties in turning intelligence in such cases into evidence also resulted in fewer prosecutions in such cases.
He added the force would be able to carry out more in-depth investigations now they had more officers.
He said: “There has been a journey in terms of the learning in child sex exploitation. We have moved an awful long way in ten years.
“We are looking at what the process was. The situation the force is in now is very different to a few years ago.
“We have got more dedicated resources and a number of ongoing inquiries. The extra resources have given us an opportunity to go after the offenders to a greater degree than a few years ago and there have been one or two notable successes.”
He stressed to the committee the issue of intelligence and disclosure and the ability to turn it into evidence to form a prosecution in court can be very problematic.
The probe follows allegations of widespread grooming operations of girls by Asian men over the last ten years in Rotherham. It has been claimed the force were aware of the issue but that only eight people have been prosecuted as a result of it.
Det Ch Insp Philip Etheridge, the force’s lead on child sex exploitation said there have been successes for the prosecution of child sex exploitation cases in Rotherham.
In 2008, eight people were convicted in court.
He said: “The training of officers in child exploitation allows officers to protect the child and to look for evidence.”
Committee chair Keith Vaz said he wanted a report in a months’ time about what South Yorkshire Police are doing to tackle the issue.
He said: “I am disappointed because I don’t think South Yorkshire Police has a grip on this very difficult subject and I am disappointed no-one has been prosecuted this year.
“The committee and the public are very concerned and we are not satisfied.”
Following the meeting PoliceOracle.com tried to contact Det Ch Insp Etheridge and the force press office to find out what was being done specifically over reported allegations of child grooming as well as their response to Mr Vaz’s comments.
As this story went live we had no response to our calls or emails.
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