National Crime Agency identify 300 abuse suspects in Rotherham

A new investigation into child sexual exploitation (CSE) in Rotherham has so far identified around 300 possible suspects, the National Crime Agency (NCA) has said.

NCA’s senior investigating officer Steve Baldwin said the 1,400 CSE victims in the town who were identified by Professor Alexis Jay last year in her damning report on what happened in the town was a “very good estimate”.

The NCA investigation – Operation Stovewood – began in December after the agency was asked to intervene by South Yorkshire Police.

This followed Prof Jay’s report which painted a shocking picture of hundreds of children being raped, trafficked and groomed by mainly Asian gangs in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013.

The report, which was published in August last year and was highly critical of police and local authority actions over 16 years, shocked the nation and led to a wave of high profile resignations.

Mr Baldwin said his team – currently 32 officers – had identified more than 3,300 lines of inquiry.

He said they had examined 47 boxes of written material, including 1,500 files, from the outreach group Risky Business alone – an organisation which tried to help many of the alleged victims.

The officer confirmed most of the potential suspects were Asian men and most of the victims were white British girls and young women.

Mr Baldwin stressed the approximation of 300 suspects was constantly changing as officers uncovered new information about the men’s identities.

He told a briefing in Sheffield: “The abuse that has taken place in Rotherham is horrendous.

“We have gathered a huge amount of material in Operation Stovewood and this details some disturbing events.

“We will use the information as a starting point for developing intelligence and evidence.

“Given the amount of victims there is, there is potential to identify thousands of offences.”

Mr Baldwin said: “We will progress this investigation as quickly as professionally possible but it is complex.

“Much of the information we have is not yet in a format that makes it easy to analyse.

“My priority at the moment is to ensure that we fully understand what has happened, and how, so that we can take the most effective action.”

Trevor Pearce, the NCA director in overall command of Operation Stovewood, said it was costing around £3 million to £5 million a year to run and could take a number of years to complete.

He said some South Yorkshire Police staff were being used as part of his team but no South Yorkshire Police officers.

The NCA confirmed that two of those under investigation are serving or former Rotherham councillors.

Mr Baldwin said his team was prioritising those suspects who still posed a threat and had committed the most serious offences.

But he said: “I want to assure all victims that we will examine all allegations of abuse and, most importantly, we will listen to victims.”

He stressed that the investigators were being very careful about how they approached alleged victims, liaising with other agencies to make sure support is available to them.

Mr Baldwin said: “Progress will best achieved at present by tackling what we have now and demonstrating through our actions that we deserve the trust and confidence of others.”

He said: “An examination of the material received by Operation Stovewood so far had identified a significant number of potential suspects. At the moment this is around 300. This number is changing on a daily basis as we do more research.”

The officer said: “We have the Risky Business files. While we are still analysing this information, and I cannot provide you with a full picture today, I would say that Alexis Jay’s estimate of 1,400 victims is a very good assessment.”

“We are focused on identifying who the victims are and putting names to their offenders”.

He said that last week alone the NCA received another 45 boxes of material.

Both officers stressed that the operation was not going to rush to make arrests. Mr Baldwin said there was evidence the men involved were sometimes operating as part of organised networks and it was important to fully understand these conspiracies before rushing to prosecute individuals.

Mr Pearce said: “For a large number of girls their lives have effectively been stolen.”

Asked how he would judge the success of the operation, he said it was not just about prosecutions.

Mr Pearce said it was also about convincing victims they have been fully listened to and the community of Rotherham that they can be confident the statutory agencies were protecting their children.

But he refused requests to comment on the South Yorkshire Police investigations between 1997 and 2013.

He said it was not the NCA’s role to investigate any alleged police misconduct but said his team was liaising with the separate Independent Police Complaints Commission inquiry.

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