Greater Manchester's police chief has revealed the force is actively pursuing child sexual exploitation suspects currently in Pakistan to face possible criminal charges here. Chief Constable Stephen Watson confirmed GMP was 'seeking to bring suspects in from Pakistan' but refused to elaborate further due to what he called 'judicial processes'.
He didn't reveal how many suspects were involved or a timeframe, but confirmed in a radio interview on Wednesday that it was 'more than one' and hinted at 'announcements that will shortly come'.
Chief Constable Watson, speaking on LBC talk radio, said crime that happened in the past doesn't 'stay in the past because it happened a long time ago', warning: "The reality is, we will hunt down people who commit these offences. We will hunt people down."
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In Heywood and Rochdale, a nine-strong gang of Asian men were convicted of sex offences against girls in 2012.
For two years from early 2008, girls as young as 12 were plied with alcohol and drugs and gang-raped in rooms above takeaway shops and ferried to different flats in taxis, where cash was paid to abuse them. Police said as many as 47 girls were groomed.
A review published last year into allegations of historic child sexual exploitation found children in Oldham were being exploited and let down by services which tried and failed to protect them.
Operation Green Jacket was also launched by the force in the wake of the discredited Operation Augusta probe into child sexual exploitation in south Manchester between 2002 and 2005, with the force revealing in 2020 more than 600 possible offenders had been identified.
Chief Constable Watson was asked a question referencing child sexual exploitation and went on to speak of 'a straightforward set of predators grooming and committing awful offences against vulnerable people'.
He said it wasn't 'that one type of person does one type of thing', adding: "If you look at different crime types, you get a slightly different dynamic.
"This is just straightforward people, predatory people abusing children and we are in those contexts very much on the front front. There are some announcements that will shortly come."
He said he didn't want to say too much because of 'judicial process', but confirmed the force had 'announcements shortly to come on child sexual exploitation, grooming gangs and people being brought to justice'.
The Chief Constable said child sexual grooming to the best of his knowledge 'was not happening in the way that it was'.
He said: "If it is happening at all, they will be isolated cases. But the sort of group activity, the sort of unchecked kebab shop, taxi driver, cabal, all that sort of stuff, we and our partners are in a completely different place in this space and I am entirely confident that we are in a much better place."
When asked, Chief Constable Watson confirmed the force was 'seeking to bring suspects in from Pakistan' and confirmed it was 'more than one'. Asked how many, he said he couldn't comment because of judicial processes.
But he said: "The reality is, we will hunt down people who commit these offences. We will hunt people down. We've been very clear. We are in a position where I think that stuff that happens today will be dealt with quickly and professionally and sensitively.
"But the stuff that's happened in the past doesn't stay in the past because it happened a long time ago and it's in respect of that, we are bringing people to justice all the time and future announcement shortly to be made."
Chief Constable Watson's comments follow an announcement in Rochdale by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of the creation of a 'grooming gangs taskforce' to combat child sexual exploitation.
The PM pledged 'political correctness' would not get in the way of the crackdown and ministers promised tougher sentences and new support for local forces to protect children from abuse.
Ethnicity data will also be used to support police investigations and part of the plan will see specialist officers assist local police forces to solve child sexual exploitation investigations as part of the taskforce.
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