The serial rapist who fathered the boy was not named on his birth certificate

A council invited a jailed sex offender to play a part in the future of the child of a woman he raped, The Times has learnt.

The rapist, who was part of a grooming gang, had no parental responsibility for his son but the local authority contacted him in jail and gave him a chance to seek visits from the boy.

Campaigners said that the “perverse” decision amounted to an offer to “retraumatise” his victim. The Ministry of Justice said that it was investigating whether it was the result of a social worker’s error or systemic failings.

To protect the child, this newspaper is not naming the council or his parents. They featured in a criminal trial in northern England in which several men of