NOS News•yesterday, 22:28
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More than a thousand girls have been abused in the British town of Telford in recent decades, a committee concludes after an investigation launched after publications by the Sunday Mirror. the British newspaper reported four years since hundreds of girls had been drugged, abused and ill-treated in Telford since the 1980s.
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Authorities had systematically underestimated the problem, the newspaper said, and allegedly kept silent about the Asian background of some of the perpetrators, fearing accusations of racism.
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The local police at the time distanced themselves from the numbers quoted by the Sunday Mirror. According to the West Mercia Police Commissioner, who is responsible for enforcement in Telford, the police were aware of the scale of the scandal, but the newspaper had greatly exaggerated the number of “possibly a thousand victims”.
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However, the commission of inquiry now concludes that the newspaper was right. Moreover, according to chairman Tom Crowther, the abuse in Telford could go on unchecked for decades.
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Authorities did not place the blame for the abuse on the perpetrators, but on the victims, the commission said. Some organizations dismissed reports of child exploitation as child prostitution. Obvious evidence of exploitation was ignored.
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‘Terrible Suffering’
According to the commission of inquiry, the exploitation of the often young girls was insufficiently investigated because of “nervousness about race”. Authorities feared an investigation into the Asian suspects would lead to “racial tensions”. Several men have since been jailed for sexually exploiting children in Telford.
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West Mercia Police
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Commission President Crowther speaks of a “terrible suffering of generations of children”. According to him, several victims told the committee how adult men first tried to gain their trust, after which it was “relentlessly” damaged.
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The men focused on vulnerable children, for whom they bought food, alcohol or cigarettes, for example. Often they tried to get the girl in question to become their “girlfriend”. In return for the gifts, they then had the children perform sexual acts, the report says.
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Unwanted pregnancy
Some girls became pregnant after being raped, the commission said. Many victims and their families also received death threats if they tried to stop the abuse.
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The report mentions the situation of a 16-year-old girl. She became pregnant by taxi driver Azhar Ali Mehmood when she was 14 years old. Two years later, Mehmood set fire to the house of the girl, her sister and mother. All three of them died as a result. Mehmood was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2001.
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Whistleblower Line
The committee has made dozens of recommendations to prevent an abuse scandal like this in the future. For example, there should be a ‘whistleblower line’ to be able to pass on information anonymously. The committee also advises the organizations involved to cooperate better and exchange information. The investigation shows that this has not been done enough.
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West Mercia Police have apologized “unequivocally” for past events in response to the report. Police Chief Richard Cooper says he wants to apologize to all the victims. “Our actions fell far short of the help and protection you should have received from us. It was unacceptable, we have disappointed you.”
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According to Cooper, police now have teams dedicated to preventing and tackling child exploitation. There is also better cooperation with child protection organizations, he says.
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