Police chief apologises to child sexual explotation victims in Rochdale

Chief Constable Steven Watson made a public apology today

The Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police has apologised for failings in the investigation into child sexual exploitation in Rochdale.

Stephen Watson met with three victims this afternoon to apologise in person for failures in investigations into their cases.

It's understood the women have been awarded 'substantial' damages.

The force was criticised for their handling of a number of allegations between 2008 and 2010.  A report by Rochdale Safeguarding Children Board said that social workers, police and prosecutors had missed opportunities to stop a child exploitation ring abusing young girls in the town.

At the time, there were fears that police officers seemed reluctant to engage in the investigations for fear of being branded racist, as many of the purpetrators were of Asian origin.

A serious case review subsequently found that authorities had failed to grasp the scale of child sexual exploitation in the town.

A new investigation, Operation Span, led by DC Maggie Oliver, was launched in 2010 to look again at the investigation and scale of the problem in Rochdale.  Oliver later resigned following what she called "failures" to use evidence to convict suspects.

Nine men were eventually charged and jailed following the investigation.

Chief Constable Steven Watson said:

"Today is not about Greater Manchester Police, but about those victims who in the past have been let down when they needed our help in the most traumatic and horrific circumstances.

"I have now personally delivered my apology to some of these victims for the failings Greater Manchester Police had in its contact with those who suffered child sexual exploitation in Rochdale. It is a matter of profound personal regret that the childhoods of these victims were so cruelly impacted by the dreadful experiences they endured.  GMP could, and should, have done much more to protect them.

“The failings of our past into Child Sexual Exploitation are well known, and thankfully there is today a far better understanding of CSE than there was before the Operation Span trial in May 2012, and we are committed to leaving no stone unturned to bring these offenders to justice, no matter the passage of time, through our dedicated Force CSE unit.  

"We will strive to keep improving our responses to similarly horrible circumstances, to prevent the same from happening in the first instance and relentlessly pursuing perpetrators so that they can be held fully to account.

“I hope that my apology and commitment to rectifying the poor practices of the past will provide some little comfort to those we failed."

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