An independent review of reports of sexual exploitation in Oldham, UK has revealed that the police and other concerned agencies failed to do their job in some cases, leaving vulnerable children exposed to sexual crimes.

The independent inquiry examined the way sexual exploitation cases were being handled by the authorities between 2011 and 2014 in Oldham.

The damning report, by child protection specialist Malcolm Newsam and former senior police officer Gary Ridgway, revealed that the police failed to prevent abuse at multiple occasions.

One such incident dates back to 2006 when the police refused to believe a 12-year-old complainant who was later raped by multiple men. The report identified the victim just by her first name, Sophie, and adds that she had gone to Oldham Police Station to report a sexual assault.

But the police did not take any action and ignored her cries for help because she was "drunk." After being turned away, the girl was picked up from outside the police station by two men who raped her in the car.

They took her to a house where she was raped multiple times by five different men in October 2006, writes the BBC.

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The report, commissioned by Oldham council in 2019, slammed Greater Manchester police (GMP) and said that they were "more concerned about covering up their failures than acknowledging the harm that had been done to a vulnerable young person."

It found that the police and social workers were aware of the fact that the children were suffering "the most profound abuse... but did not protect them." And that the quality of case work was generally very poor in at least ten cases. However, there was no evidence of a cover-up.

It concluded there were "historic failings" and that "some children had been failed by the agencies that were meant to protect them because child protection procedures had not been properly followed."

UK police
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