The Metropolitan Police has announced a review of approximately 9,000 child sexual exploitation cases spanning 15 years. The move follows Baroness Louise Casey’s national review into the scale of grooming gangs.
The force stated that many of the cases do not fit the common understanding of grooming gang offending, including instances of intra-familial abuse, peer-on-peer exploitation, and abuse within institutional settings.
A Met Police spokesperson emphasised that all sexual offending against children is abhorrent, but group-based offending is particularly insidious. They noted significant improvements since 2022 in identifying and investigating such crimes, including training for 11,000 frontline officers and expanded child exploitation teams.
In the past year, the Met has solved three times more child sexual exploitation cases and charged 134 additional suspects. The force reaffirmed its commitment to safeguarding victims and bringing offenders to justice.
