Inquiry finds over 1,000 children in Telford were sexually exploited over decades

An Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) in Telford has today been published revealing that over a thousand children were sexually exploited over decades.

The Inquiry, led by chair Tom Crowther QC has been investigating cases of CSE in Telford dating from 1989 to the present day and examined the authorities’ response over that period.

The report finds that child sexual exploitation thrived in Telford with people working with children, including police officers, youth workers and teachers, expressing concern but those concerns were not taken sufficiently seriously by the council or West Mercia Police.

Tom Crowther QC, who chaired the inquiry found that more than a thousand Telford children were exploited over decades with obvious signs of child sexual exploitation ignored.

It found that exploitation was not investigated because of nervousness about race and that information was not properly shared between agencies, with some bodies dismissing child exploitation as child prostitution and even blaming the children instead of the perpetrators.

Teachers and youth workers were discouraged from reporting child sexual exploitation.

Offenders were emboldened and exploitation continued for years without concerted response.

West Mercia Police and the council also scaled-down specialist teams to save money.

Mr Crowther said: "The overwhelming theme of the evidence has been the appalling suffering of generations of children caused by the utter cruelty of those who committed child sexual exploitation.

"Victims and survivors repeatedly told the inquiry how, when they were children, adult men worked to gain their trust before ruthlessly betraying that trust, treating them as sexual objects or commodities.

"Countless children were sexually assaulted and raped. They were deliberately humiliated and degraded. They were shared and trafficked. They were subjected to violence and their families were threatened.

"They lived in fear and their lives were forever changed. They have asked, over the years: how was this allowed to happen?"

Seven men were jailed in 2013 following Operation Chalice, a police probe into child prostitution in the Telford area.

You can read more about the inquiry and the full report on the IITCSE website.

Council Apology

In response to the findings of the investigation Telford & Wrekin Council issued the following statement:

"We apologise wholeheartedly to victims and survivors for the pain they have gone through and thank them for sharing their experiences with the Inquiry, which must have been incredibly difficult to do.

"Child sexual exploitation is a vile crime that disgusts us and all right thinking people.

"The Independent Inquiry acknowledges we have made significant improvements in recent years. We are working very hard, day in and day out, to provide the best possible support for victims of this crime. We will continue to work alongside and listen to victims and survivors.

"Telford & Wrekin Council commissioned the report that dates back to 1989 and accept the Inquiry’s recommendations, many of which we are already carrying out."

Police Apology

Speaking on behalf of West Mercia Police, Assistant Chief Constable Richard Cooper, said:

“I would like to say sorry. Sorry to the survivors and all those affected by child sexual exploitation in Telford. While there were no findings of corruption, our actions fell far short of the help and protection you should have had from us, it was unacceptable, we let you down. It is important we now take time to reflect critically and carefully on the context of the report and the recommendations that have been made.

“Whilst we are in a different place now there are no excuses for the past. What I can give you are assurances that we have made vast improvements to the way we tackle these crimes, but we cannot and will not stop there. We’re absolutely committed to continually looking to improve our approach.

“We now have teams dedicated to preventing and tackling child exploitation. We also have an Online Child Sexual Exploitation Team (OCSET) to ensure that we are targeting offenders both online and in person. The officers in these teams work incredibly hard, day in day out, to actively root out perpetrators and put them before the courts as well as preventing offending.

“The way we work with other agencies has evolved and we now work better together so that we can act quickly to safeguard children at risk of being targeted and prevent harm whenever we can.

"When the worst does happen and a child is harmed, or if someone reaches out about an offence that happened some time ago, we have specially trained officers who understand the complex and sensitive nature of these issues and can ensure the right and necessary support is there.

“Some years ago we have introduced exploitation and vulnerability trainers delivering training to those in jobs and roles that may be able to spot the signs of offences such as council workers, teachers, hotel staff and taxi drivers which has been invaluable.

“We want people who are, or think they are, being exploited or are concerned about child sexual exploitation to report this to us. We will listen and we will act on any information given to us.”