A veteran Scottish care worker has issued a stark warning that organised grooming gangs are now smuggling mobile phones into children's residential care homes to contact and exploit vulnerable young people.
Whistleblower Condemns Government Denial
The worker, identified as Jane with over twenty years of experience, told The Scottish Mail on Sunday that the situation is worsening. She described First Minister John Swinney and Justice Secretary Angela Constance as 'crazy' for suggesting there is no significant problem with grooming gangs exploiting children in Scotland.
'I can tell you it’s now getting worse,' Jane stated. 'Children in Scotland are being groomed by gangs today, it’s not as if this isn’t still happening.' She highlighted a dramatic shift in referrals over the past decade, from cases of neglect to complex trauma involving exploitation.
'The trajectory has massively changed and now every other referral I read is a girl who is being sexually exploited or a boy involved in county lines and being criminally exploited,' she explained.
Chilling Case Study of Grooming Tactics
Jane provided a detailed account of one case involving a vulnerable 16-year-old girl relocated to a rural care home. The girl, a survivor of childhood rape, was targeted by local shopkeepers.
'There were undesirables in the community that got to know the kids, particularly the local shopkeepers,' Jane said. 'In this case the shop was run by an Asian family, a dad and two sons in their 20s.'
The girl began showing classic signs of grooming: returning with manicured nails, new clothes, and gifts. Her social media featured a photo of her nails on the steering wheel of an Audi, matching a car owned by the shopkeeper. She was also consistently in possession of multiple phones.
Jane intercepted a parcel sent to the teenager. 'Inside there was a box of sweeties but with another mobile phone hidden inside,' she revealed. Another child informed her the girl had been sending naked pictures to the men in the shop.
Despite reporting the clear child sexual exploitation (CSE) to police, Jane claims they responded: 'She’s 16, there’s nothing we can do.' She also criticised the immense bureaucratic hurdles care staff face when trying to remove a phone used for grooming from a child.
Calls for Inquiry Amid Ministerial Controversy
Jane's intervention comes as Justice Secretary Angela Constance was found to have breached the ministerial code twice. She incorrectly told MSPs that Scotland did not need a public inquiry into grooming gangs and falsely claimed child abuse expert Professor Alexis Jay shared that view. First Minister John Swinney refused to sack her.
The Scottish Government has ordered a review of existing evidence instead of a full public inquiry. Fiona Goddard, a survivor trafficked to Scotland by a grooming gang, said Jane's account reinforces the 'urgent need for a Scottish inquiry'.
'Without a full inquiry to establish the truth and the true scale of the problem, this situation will continue to escalate and more children will be failed,' Goddard warned.
Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay called the testimony 'chilling', while Labour MSP Johann Lamont described it as 'shocking and disturbing'.
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said a review commissioned by Mr Swinney would provide 'rigorous scrutiny' of local councils' risk assessments. Police Scotland stated it works with partners to 'improve the response and better support victims of exploitation and abuse.'
