Survivors of the Rotherham child abuse scandal today slammed a £6million report which revealed 47 police officers were investigated over the failings - but nobody was sacked.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) found South Yorkshire Police "failed to protect vulnerable children and young people”. At least 1,400 girls were abused, trafficked and groomed in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013.
But the final report into the scandal, published today after eight years, revealed that no officer lost their job despite 265 separate allegations being made by more than 50 complainants.
It also outlined how seven officers that would have faced misconduct hearings did not have to do so because they had retired since the investigation got underway. The report criticised the force for prioritising other crimes, such as burglary and vehicle crime, at the expense of child sexual exploitation.
Officers who had committed gross misconduct had either retired or resigned while others criticised were given ‘advice’. Survivor and campaigner, Sammy Woodhouse, 37, who was groomed and raped from the age of 14, said she was “disgusted” nobody in the police had been held accountable despite her 10-year battle for justice.
And she is furious that officers had been allowed to retire on a full pension. “I’m pleased that my complaints were upheld because still to this day people think I’m lying. People always say I’m not a real victim because he didn’t sell me or pass me around. It’s pathetic,” she told the Mirror.
“But as per, not one person has been held to account for anything, despite all this evidence they have and they've retired and got full pensions.
“It’s been a 10-year fight and I’ve put my heart and soul into everything. I have gone into detail to the police, to the IOPC, to report after report, to training events. I am trying to have people held to account but have not been successful. If you look at all the other places such as Rochdale no one has been held to account for that. They are just able to get away with it. I’m disgusted.”
The long-awaited report took eight years to publish and cost more than £6million. Survivor Elizabeth, 34, not her real name, abused from the age of 15 after being groomed, told The Mirror today: “It’s an absolute joke and laughable. It’s sickening. There’s no accountability.
"“It’s like the police are untouchable. It’s like police can do what they want without fear of being held responsible for it. It is a dangerous message not just to send to police officers but the perpetrators too.
“It’s disrespectful to survivors and their families. What does this say to future victims?"
SYP admitted “we got it wrong and we let victims down” after the report concluded the force “failed to protect vulnerable children”. The entire investigation, named Operation Linden, has so far cost £6million. The operation remains open and more reports have been made in recent years.
It has catalogued how officers viewed teenagers as “consenting” to their abuse and were told to prioritise other crimes. The probe also detailed how one parent concerned about a missing daughter said they were told by an officer “it was a ‘fashion accessory’ for girls in Rotherham to have an ‘older Asian boyfriend’ and that she would grow out of it”.
The IOPC identified systemic problems within South Yorkshire Police at the time, detailing how CSE in Rotherham was dealt with by a small “overwhelmed” unit, which had a number of other responsibilities. Meanwhile IOPC director of major investigations Steve Noonan praised the survivors of CSE in Rotherham who came forward to help his investigators conduct the biggest inquiry the watchdog has undertaken apart from the Hillsborough disaster probe.
He said 51 people made complaints, including 44 survivors, involving 265 separate allegations. Of the 47 officers investigated, eight were found to have a case to answer for misconduct and six had a case to answer for gross misconduct. Five of these officers received sanctions ranging from management action up to a final written warning.
Another faced a South Yorkshire Police misconduct hearing earlier this year, reports YorkshireLive, and the case was found not proven by an independent panel. In many cases, officers had retired and could not face disciplinary proceedings, the IOPC said. Only two cases reached the point of a public adjudication hearing.
South Yorkshire’s PCC Alan Billings said: “I am disappointed that after eight years of very costly investigations, this report fails to make any significant recommendations over and above what South Yorkshire Police have already accepted and implemented from previous investigations some years ago.
“It repeats what past reports and reviews have shown – that there was unacceptable practice between 1997 and 2013 – but fails to identify any individual accountability. As a result, it lets down victims and survivors. A great deal of time and money has been spent for few new findings or accountability.”
He said it was unfair officers have had allegations of misconduct "hanging over them for so long”, but said the force was now “on a path of continuous improvement”. South Yorkshire’s deputy chief constable Tim Forber said: “We fully accept the findings of the IOPC report which closely reflects those highlighted by Professor Alexis Jay in 2014.
“The Jay Report brought a stark reality of our failings in handling CSE. We let victims of CSE down. We failed to recognise their vulnerability and failed to see them as victims, for that I am deeply sorry. They deserved better from us. The brave accounts of these girls caused a seismic change in policing crimes of this nature for South Yorkshire Police and the wider police service.”
Mr Forber said: “Whilst I am confident we are a very different force today, I will not lose sight of the fact that we got it wrong and we let victims down.”
David Greenwood, a solicitor representing 80 Rotherham CSE survivors said: “It shows the British public the level of disregard shown by South Yorkshire Police to female victims of sexual exploitation, it explains that even by the pathetically low standards of the police service it was ‘okay’ to not investigate these crimes properly or at all, and it will demonstrate how the system of police complaints has provided zero accountability and needs reform.”
Read more of today's top stories here
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