Abuse victim receives apology after 10 years

A victim of the Rotherham grooming scandal says she still feels let down, 10 years after the publication of the groundbreaking Jay Report.

Professor Alexis Jay was commissioned to investigate sexual abuse in the city and identified 1,400 children who were exploited between 1997 and 2013. The victims were mainly white girls who had been abused by Asian men, mainly of Pakistani origin.

Among them was “Amy,” a survivor who does not use her real name. She was only 13 when she was attacked by 10 men.

She said she had never received an “official” apology from those in authority who had failed her at the time. After being contacted by the BBC, South Yorkshire Police personally delivered a letter of apology.

Warning: This report contains details of child sexual exploitation.

The Findings of the Jay Report shocked the city and had far-reaching consequences for the whole of northern England.

It exposed the rape of children aged 11 and over by multiple men, who also abducted and trafficked them. Many of the children were vulnerable and came from unstable backgrounds, and their plight was ignored by social services.

Amy reported her abuse to South Yorkshire Police twice in 2003, when she was 13. She then waited a further 13 years before her abusers were convicted.

As a schoolgirl, she was locked in a flat and forced to perform sex acts on 10 men. She kept the clothes in which she had been repeatedly raped by the then 17-year-old grooming gang leader Sageer Hussain.

“I had all my clothes hidden in the bottom of my wardrobe. They were covered in blood and DNA, they were torn. I gave them all to the police,” she said.

“The officers said they didn’t have any evidence bags and asked my mother if she had any black garbage bags to put them in. My mother gave them to her, she was just in shock at this point, this wasn’t normal life.”

A week later, police told the family they had lost Amy’s clothes, and she dropped her complaint against the gang.

The family continued to speak out about their daughter’s abuse by contacting politicians, including then Home Secretary David Blunkett. Mr Blunkett denied ever receiving a letter from them.

It was only when the family handed over all of Amy’s files, including social services documents, police reports and medical records, to The Times investigative journalist Andrew Norfolk that things began to change.

Mr Norfolk has been investigating child grooming gangs in the North of England and the Midlands for more than a year.

In 2012, Amy’s story was the first in a series of case studies in Rotherham to be published in the newspaper. However, it took another 12 months for Rotherham Council to commission an independent investigation into the council’s handling of child sexual exploitation.

“The Times was the beginning, but the Jay Report was a turning point,” Amy said.

Amy recalls the day the report was made public: “I heard the number 1,400 and the abuse that was being outlined. I thought, ‘This could be the change, this could be the start of being listened to and believed.’

“It wasn’t that people weren’t listening, I just felt like no one believed me and people thought I was crazy.”

Amy, now in her mid-30s, has received compensation and apologies from leaders who took up their roles after 2014. However, she said she would like to apologise to those responsible for South Yorkshire Police and Rotherham Council at the time of her abuse.

“I have had apologies from people who were not responsible because they were not in their posts when those decisions and shortcomings were made,” she said.

After two officers delivered the apology letter to Amy’s home earlier this month, current South Yorkshire Police Chief Constable Lauren Poultney said: “I am so sorry that Amy has not received an apology directly. I have apologised publicly on several occasions and have now written to her personally to put this right.

“When victims and survivors spoke to the Jay Inquiry, they placed their trust in a process where everyone else had failed them. Their courage and determination were a catalyst for fundamental change in policing, so I want to explain how different our approach to child sexual exploitation (CSE) is today.”

Ms Poultney said police were working with all agencies to share information and create profiles to identify and record emerging CSE trends. Versions of those profiles were also made public to improve transparency.

“It is important to recognize that CSE looks different today than it did in the Jay Report,” she said.

“It evolves, develops and changes into an approach that is less recognizable than the previous one, but thanks to the information we share, we can identify some of the behaviors that precede the abuse and take measures to prevent harm.

“We may never be able to stop child abuse in all its forms, but thanks to the courage of those who have spoken out, we can continue to turn Rotherham into a hostile environment for anyone who wants to do harm.”

Nicola Curley, strategic director for children and young people’s services at Rotherham Council, said: “We deeply regret that Amy and the other victims of the appalling abuse that took place and is detailed in the Jay Report have been let down by the authorities, including the council.

“We have apologized to Amy in the past and reiterate that apology today without reservation.

“The failings in child protection in Rotherham at the time were completely unacceptable and the council, together with its partners, is doing everything we can to support the victims of these crimes.”

Amy had previously received personal apologies from former South Yorkshire Police Chief Constable Dr Alan Billings and from Ian Thomas, Rotherham Council’s former director of children’s services between 2015 and 2018.

“They acknowledged what had happened and how wrong it was,” she said.

She testified at three trials between 2017 and 2018 and ten men were jailed.

“The evidence used in court was there since 2003, so I could have gotten justice much sooner,” she said.

“That could have made a big difference for other victims as well, because it would have been recognized earlier that this was a problem and that this was happening.”

Amy said there have been a number of positive changes within Rotherham Council over the past 10 years.

“The Jay Report has led to major changes and much greater understanding of CSE,” she said.

“What Rotherham has done to combat child sexual exploitation in the UK is much bigger than what Rotherham is known for. It has transformed the situation for hundreds of thousands of people, not just children, but adult women who have been sexually exploited.

“Women probably recognized it when it was on the news, but they never really knew it was wrong because no one ever said it.”

She added: “I will always be grateful for the Jay Report because it changed my life.”

If you or someone you know has been a victim of child sexual abuse, BBC Action Line has information about organizations that may be able to help you.