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Almost 500 children in Birmingham and the West Midlands have been identified as being victims of sexual exploitation or of being at risk of sexual exploitation in just six months, a new report has revealed.

The chilling figure is more than DOUBLE the previous estimate for the same period, indicating the scale of the problem was previously vastly underestimated.

And for the first time police and council officials have publicly admitted a ‘disproportionate number’ of Asian Pakistani men are involved in on-street grooming, as revealed by the Mail last year.

The assessment report also reveals there are currently 70 live Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) investigations being conducted by West Midlands Police, with 97 people on bail.

The 488 figure was for the period January to June 2014 but has rocketed from an original estimate of 210 for the same period after a full review by police and council officials. But authorities admit the number is likely to be a “significant underestimate’’ of the true scale of the problem.

By comparison around 1,400 children were found to have been failed by the authorities after being sexually exploited in Rotherham over a16-year period, eventually leading to the mass resignations of council and police figures.

Former Home Office CSE expert Stephen Rimmer, now seconded to Birmingham City Council, has published the new report with contributions from West Midlands Police and the seven councils in the region. It revealed how:

*488 children were identified by police and local authorities as being sexually exploited or at risk from sex exploitation from online and on-street grooming gangs in the first six months of 2014;

*87 per cent of victims were female and 54 per cent were white;

*Around a third of children identified were in local authority care;

*Children going missing from home or care homes was a frequent factor in the cases.

The report also said: “Suspects are from a wide range of backgrounds, but there are disproportionate numbers from an Asian Pakistani background suspected of abuse and exploitation on the streets; and primarily white male suspects in relation to online offending.”

It later adds: “Our profile of offenders is evolving as our understanding of the threat grows. The most common background for online predators remains white young and middle-aged males. Offenders investigated for predominately on-street activity are disproportionately but by no means exclusively males of Asian-Pakistani origin.

“The common factor across all perpetrators is their manipulative and abusive attitudes and behaviours.

“We need to work with schools, faith groups, communities, parents and young people themse4lves to address any factors which might generate unacceptable attitudes within any ethnic group.

“We will continue working closely with those neighbourhood bodies which recognise the risks of such cultural attitudes within some men and boys in their own communities and challenge such attitudes.”

The report said the CSE offending typically takes place with multiple victims and offenders being involved at each incident, with victims frequently trafficked to other areas including London, Greater Manchester, the West Country, Suffolk and North Wales. It adds: “The most common vulnerable and frequented CSE locations within the West Midlands are residential dwellings, hotels and parks - those living in children’s home are frequently targeted too.”

In terms of the 488 figure, the report says: “We believe the number of victims over the first six months of last year is still a significant underestimate of the true scale of the problem in our region.

“Many victims worry they will not be believed or are threatened by offenders and don’t feel able to seek help. Many victims of grooming do not see themselves as victims of abuse as they have been so significantly manipulated by the perpetrators.”

The report admits cases of CSE have been growing since last summer, but claims the increase is a ‘positive step’ as more victims are coming forward after public awareness campaigns and initiatives by police and councils. “However, we know we have more to do and will be publishing a further update later in the year,’’ it says.

Potential mistakes in tackling CSE have been previously highlighted by the Mail, including an investigation showing how Birmingham City Council had ‘buried’ a report by a respected academic 23 years ago.

Researcher Dr Jill Jesson was asked by the authority to look at the issue of child prostitution involving girls in care back in 1990. The following year, after six months research, she produced a critical two-part report which showed child protection failings by social workers and other agencies.

(Image: Julie Howden/newsteam.co.uk)

Her report also highlighted claims that some Asian private hire drivers were linked to the sexual exploitation of young white girls in care, including some who had been cautioned for prostitution offences. Yet when Dr Jesson presented her draft findings to a steering group, she was ordered to remove all reference linking ethnicity and the private hire trade. Incredibly, her full amended final report was never published.

A meeting planned to discuss it was cancelled – and all copies were to be destroyed. Dr Jesson told the Mail: “I was employed to do the work because I think they thought I would be objective,” she said. “I was told to reveal what I saw. I did – and some people didn’t like it.”

In his accompanying statement to the report Mr Rimmer, the regional strategic lead on preventing violence against vulnerable people, said the assessment gave ‘‘a proper picture for the first time of the scale and nature of the CSE threat across the West Midlands.’’

He added: “Since this snapshot we have put into practice common standards and a shared regional approach to coordinate our operational activity, we have launched an awareness raising campaign to inform young people, parents and communities and we have engaged directly with front line staff – teachers, GPs, taxi drivers and many others.

“This is to improve our support to children and young people at risk and to make life increasingly difficult for perpetrators of this crime – our number of investigations is growing as a result.

“I am clear that victims can now feel more confident than ever that they will get a proper and caring response from these services. CSE thrives in the dark and we are determined to expose it and tackle it wherever we find it.”

Commenting on behalf of the seven West Midlands local authorities, Solihull’s Chief Executive Nick Page, said: “Today’s assessment describing our collective work to tackle the perpetrators of child sexual exploitation and protect children and young people is an important staging post. We have moved some way from having a collective will to now having some tangible evidence of our impact.

“However we cannot be complacent in any way. The perpetrators of this horrendous abuse are, whilst evil, very adept at disguising their activity. As the statutory agencies our duty, responsibility and purpose to protect children and young people is crystal clear. Working together with our communities and partners across the West Midlands has to be the way to go. So we can say today that some progress is being made, whilst being clear there is so much more we must do. “

Detective Chief Superintendent Danny Long, from West Midlands Police’s Public Protection Unit, said: ”Child sexual exploitation remains a top priority for West Midlands Police.

“Over the past 12 months our Public Protection Unit has been doubled in strength to some 800 officers and staff. This means around 10 per cent of the entire force are engaged in the fight and shows just how committed we are to tackling CSE.

“There is nothing more important than safeguarding children and our continuing work with all local authorities and other partner agencies strengthens everybody’s ability to stamp out the problem.”

The Mail told in January whilst the force has doubled its numbers of officers in its Public Protection Unit, that still only accounts for just over ten per cent of the force’s resources. The PPU tackles domestic violence, female genital mutilation, honour crime, CSE, child abuse and sexual offences. Domestic violence alone makes up 30 per cent of the force’s total workload.

SOLIHULL AND CSE:

The report said the number of victims at serious risk of CSE within Solihull was ‘significantly greater proportionately’ than the six other local authority areas. But it added: “This is not because Solihull is a ‘hot-spot’ for CSE activity - it is because Solihull had particularly well-developed processes for identifying children at risk at this period and we expect all local authorities to be generating greater numbers of identified children at risk through using these processes which have been coming into place over recent months.’’

WHERE TO GET HELP:

If you have any concerns about the safety of a child, or would like some advice, you can call:

*Barnardo’s in the West Midlands on 0121 359 5333;

*West Midlands Police on 101;

*And Childline for free, confidential advice 0800 1111.

Further sources of support can be found at http://www.seeme-hearme.org.uk/help-advice-and-support/