Police officers in Rotherham were not equipped to deal with the widespread child sexual abuse that plagued the town for over 15 years, according to a new report from the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC). The long-awaited findings are the latest in a series of inquiries into a scandal that has cast a shadow over South Yorkshire.
The IOPC's Operation Linden investigated South Yorkshire Police's response to allegations of child sexual exploitation between 1997 and 2013. It found that systemic problems meant the force failed to recognise the scale of the problem, echoing Professor Alexis Jay's 2014 report which identified at least 1,400 victims, mostly girls as young as 11, subjected to rape, trafficking, and intimidation by men predominantly of Pakistani heritage.
The Jay report led to the resignation of Rotherham Council leader Roger Stone, chief executive Martin Kimber, children's services director Joyce Thacker, and police and crime commissioner Shaun Wright. The council was later taken over by government-appointed commissioners after being deemed 'not fit for purpose'.
Operation Linden conducted 91 investigations covering 265 allegations from 51 complainants, of whom 44 were survivors. Of 47 officers investigated, eight were found to have a case to answer for misconduct and six for gross misconduct. Due to legislation at the time, many retired officers could not face disciplinary action, but five received sanctions from management action to final written warnings. One officer's misconduct case was found not proven.
The IOPC made 13 recommendations, including using survivors' voices in training and reviewing laws on offences committed by groomed young people. Meanwhile, the National Crime Agency's Operation Stovewood, the UK's largest investigation into non-familial child sexual exploitation, continues with around 200 officers, resulting in 20 convictions to date.
