"Rotherham was not an isolated example"
The Home Affairs Select Committee was quoted this morning on the BBC as saying that Rotherham was not an isolated example.
I think that all police forces and local authorities need to be very alert for the possibility that systematic child abuse could be taking place in their area, without falling prey to preconceptions of who may be responsible.
In Rotherham the culprits were of one particular ethnic minority and they took advantage of the fear by the authorities of being accused of racism. However, the key problem was a lack of open minds. Any evidence of child abuse must be properly investigated in as sensitive a way as possible and it would be just as dangerous to approach the evidence with any preconception that a particular ethnic or social group is, or isn't, likely to be involved, or about who the victims might be, whatever that preconception is.
If serial paedophiles have one thing in common, it is that many of them gain access to vulnerable young people precisely because they are the sort of person who nobody suspects of being a paedophile.
What makes this all the more difficult is that untrue accusations of sexual abuse also happen, sometimes because of mistaken identity, and being falsely accused of sexual abuse can wreck the life of an innocent person. Everything compatible with a proper investigation should be done to reduce the risk of this - for example, alerting the press to investigations against someone before there is enough evidence to charge them, as has happened to certain celebrities, is completely unacceptable.
During the recent party conference season, I spoke to a couple of old friends who are now Police and Crime Commissioners. One of them mentioned that he had recently met members of a local council in his force area, which I am not going to name because I think this could be a widespread problem. It had mostly been a constructive discussion but he was concerned at one question he did not get - e.g. "Could something like Rotherham be happening here?"
That is a question that every local authority and police force should, in a calm, rational and non-inflammatory way, be asking.
I think that all police forces and local authorities need to be very alert for the possibility that systematic child abuse could be taking place in their area, without falling prey to preconceptions of who may be responsible.
In Rotherham the culprits were of one particular ethnic minority and they took advantage of the fear by the authorities of being accused of racism. However, the key problem was a lack of open minds. Any evidence of child abuse must be properly investigated in as sensitive a way as possible and it would be just as dangerous to approach the evidence with any preconception that a particular ethnic or social group is, or isn't, likely to be involved, or about who the victims might be, whatever that preconception is.
If serial paedophiles have one thing in common, it is that many of them gain access to vulnerable young people precisely because they are the sort of person who nobody suspects of being a paedophile.
What makes this all the more difficult is that untrue accusations of sexual abuse also happen, sometimes because of mistaken identity, and being falsely accused of sexual abuse can wreck the life of an innocent person. Everything compatible with a proper investigation should be done to reduce the risk of this - for example, alerting the press to investigations against someone before there is enough evidence to charge them, as has happened to certain celebrities, is completely unacceptable.
During the recent party conference season, I spoke to a couple of old friends who are now Police and Crime Commissioners. One of them mentioned that he had recently met members of a local council in his force area, which I am not going to name because I think this could be a widespread problem. It had mostly been a constructive discussion but he was concerned at one question he did not get - e.g. "Could something like Rotherham be happening here?"
That is a question that every local authority and police force should, in a calm, rational and non-inflammatory way, be asking.
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