Rochdale child sexual exploitation report published

The damning 173-page review covers 2004 to 2013, setting out multiple failed investigations by Greater Manchester Police and highlighting apparent local authority indifference to the plight of hundreds of youngsters, mainly white girls from poor backgrounds, all identified as potential victims of abuse in Rochdale by Asian men.

The Rochdale report follows reports by the same authors on grooming in Manchester and Oldham, which found authorities had again failed children, leaving them in the clutches of paedophile gangs.

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Malcolm Newsam CBE, co-author of the report, said: “Successive police operations were launched over this period, but these were insufficiently resourced to match the scale of the widespread organised exploitation within the area.

“Consequently, children were left at risk and many of their abusers to this day have not been apprehended.”

The report identifies 96 men still deemed a potential risk to children, but this is “only a proportion” of the numbers involved in the abuse.

Mr Newsam, a renowned childcare expert, authored the report with Gary Ridgeway, a former detective superintendent, following allegations by whistleblowers Sara Rowbotham and Maggie Oliver in a BBC TV documentary The Betrayed Girls, which aired in 2017.

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Mayor: System ‘badly failed’ children

Andy Burnham, who commissioned the report into grooming in Rochdale, said it was “hard to read” while former police detective Maggie Oliver said the failure to protect “hundreds” of young girls left her feeling “anger”.

The Greater Manchester Mayor said it gave a “detailed and distressing” account of how many young people were failed.

He added: “That said, it fulfils the purpose of why I set up this review in the first place.

“It is only by facing up fully and unflinchingly to what happened that we can be sure of bringing the whole system culture change needed when it comes to protecting children from abuse.”

He continued: “We are sorry that you were so badly failed by the system that should have protected you.

“I would also like to praise those who blew the whistle on their behalf, particularly [former Rochdale health worker] Sara Rowbotham and Maggie Oliver, and for the support they have provided to them ever since. That took huge courage and determination and we thank them for it.”

Mayor Andy Burnham apologised for the failures identified in the report (Image: Jane Barlow, PA)

Rochdale Council leader Cllr 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.

“I want to reassure the public that those responsible are gone and long gone.”

Greater Manchester Police chief constable Stephen Watson said: “It remains 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.

“Whilst the report rightfully vindicates Maggie and Sara (Rowbotham) 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.”

GMP's Chief Constable apologised (Image: James Speakman, PA)

Evidence of organised abuse from as early as 2004

The report states there was “compelling evidence” of widespread, organised sexual abuse of children in Rochdale from as early as 2004 onwards, citing multiple reports of the involvement of groups of Asian men.

But children’s unwillingness to make a formal complaint was repeatedly used as an excuse for not investigating.

In 2007, the Crisis Intervention Team led by Ms Rowbotham alerted GMP and Rochdale Council to the presence of an organised crime group involved.

GMP identified the ring-leaders, described as “prolific career criminals”, but did not investigate further because children were too frightened to assist.

The report said this was a “serious failure” to protect the children, ignoring the coercion and control the groomers had over their victims and families, who were sometimes threatened or subjected to violence or had their homes attacked.

Another police investigation into two takeaway shops in Rochdale, involving 30 adult male suspects, was also aborted prematurely because police bosses failed to resource it and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) deemed the main child victim an unreliable witness.

Three years later, in January 2010, the specialist multi-agency Sunrise Team was set up in Rochdale where a child told a social worker of the widescale abuse of children by up to 60 men.

One police report said: “What is clearly emerging is an organised industry where vulnerable young children are being targeted for sexual abuse.”

The detective inspector asked for more staff to investigate but police bosses denied the request.

The report states: “Once more, children were left at the mercy of their abusers because of an inadequate response by GMP and children’s social care to the serious exploitation of vulnerable children.”

In Oldham, a report into child sexual exploitation was published in June 2022 – with the report finding serious shortcomings found in the approach of authorities to historical cases, and evidence of missed opportunities to intervene in cases of rape and assault.

But the report authors stressed there was no evidence of a cover-up by these authorities.