Jul 30, 2025 11:52 PM
Rotherham survivors have 'no faith' in police force investigating allegations its officers took part in abuse
https://news.sky.com/story/rotherham-sur...e-13404034
INTRO: Several women who survived sexual exploitation in Rotherham have said they have "no faith" in a police force investigating allegations its own officers took part in abuse in the town. The police watchdog has said there is no conflict of interest in South Yorkshire Police (SYP) investigating its own staff after victims of the Rotherham abuse scandal said they were abused by serving officers.
Five women told the BBC how they were exploited by grooming gangs in the town when they were children and also sexually abused by officers. According to the broadcaster, one girl was raped from the age of 12 in a marked police car and the officer threatened to hand her back to the groomers if she did not do as he said.
SYP is investigating the allegations under the direction of the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC). Three former officers who worked for the force have been arrested so far.
In a statement, the law firm Switalskis, which represents survivors of abuse in Rotherham, said it hoped alleged abuse by officers would have been unearthed following Operation Linden - a long-running IOPC investigation into how police responded to child sexual abuse in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013.
It said: "That never came. For years SYP resisted our requests for an investigation into the alleged criminality of police officers, despite us providing them with the accounts of survivors.
"Those that have suffered abuse in Rotherham have no faith that SYP will do a thorough job of investigating alleged abuse by their own officers. In addition, dealing with SYP is retraumatising for them. Many of our clients refuse to report offences to SYP because they do not think they will be believed and because they were treated so badly in the past.
"This investigation must be handed over to an independent police force to ensure that survivors feel confident enough to come forward. The accounts we have heard, which we expect are only a fraction of the full scale of abuse, are utterly harrowing." (MORE - details)
https://news.sky.com/story/rotherham-sur...e-13404034
INTRO: Several women who survived sexual exploitation in Rotherham have said they have "no faith" in a police force investigating allegations its own officers took part in abuse in the town. The police watchdog has said there is no conflict of interest in South Yorkshire Police (SYP) investigating its own staff after victims of the Rotherham abuse scandal said they were abused by serving officers.
Five women told the BBC how they were exploited by grooming gangs in the town when they were children and also sexually abused by officers. According to the broadcaster, one girl was raped from the age of 12 in a marked police car and the officer threatened to hand her back to the groomers if she did not do as he said.
SYP is investigating the allegations under the direction of the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC). Three former officers who worked for the force have been arrested so far.
In a statement, the law firm Switalskis, which represents survivors of abuse in Rotherham, said it hoped alleged abuse by officers would have been unearthed following Operation Linden - a long-running IOPC investigation into how police responded to child sexual abuse in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013.
It said: "That never came. For years SYP resisted our requests for an investigation into the alleged criminality of police officers, despite us providing them with the accounts of survivors.
"Those that have suffered abuse in Rotherham have no faith that SYP will do a thorough job of investigating alleged abuse by their own officers. In addition, dealing with SYP is retraumatising for them. Many of our clients refuse to report offences to SYP because they do not think they will be believed and because they were treated so badly in the past.
"This investigation must be handed over to an independent police force to ensure that survivors feel confident enough to come forward. The accounts we have heard, which we expect are only a fraction of the full scale of abuse, are utterly harrowing." (MORE - details)
