GETTY Newcastle has been recognised as one of the cities in Britain shamed by Asian grooming gangs

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As a sickening gang of 17 men and one woman was convicted over the sexual abuse more than 100 girls some as young as 13 it emerged that many experts believe the horrific list of convictions to be merely the tip of the iceberg. One former Crown Prosecution Service chief Lord Macdonald of River Glaven admitted that in the past investigations had been hampered by police fears of appearing racist.

And shadow women and equalities secretary Sarah Champion, Labour MP for Rotherham, claimed Asian grooming gangs had been allowed to thrive because people were "more afraid to be called a racist than they are afraid to be wrong about calling out child abuse". As a result grooming gangs, predominantly run by Asian men, sprang up and operated under the radar in a host of British towns and cities. The way police and authorities looked the other way despite being inundated with complaints from vulnerable teenage girls is now the stuff of infamy.

NC Rotherham, Rochdale and Oxford were also recognised as towns and cities at risk

So far those towns have included: * Rotherham - The issue of child abuse in the town first came to light in 2010 when five Asian men were jailed for sexual offences against under-age girls. A 2014 inquiry found there were more than 1,400 victims of grooming and sex exploitation in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013. * Rochdale - The trial of nine Asian men for grooming young white girls for sex attracted widespread public outrage and sparked a national debate when they were convicted in 2012. The gang received jail sentences of between four and 19 years for offences committed against five girls - aged between 13 and 15 - in and around Rochdale between 2008 and 2010. The case returned to the public consciousness earlier this year when the BBC broadcast its Three Girls drama based on the experiences of some of the victims.

* Oxford - In 2013, five members of a sadistic paedophile ring were handed life sentences, while two others were each jailed for seven years at the Old Bailey. The court heard how six girls, aged between 11 and 15, were plied with alcohol and drugs before being forced to perform sex acts. All of the men were of Pakistani origin apart from two brothers, who were from north Africa.

GETTY Girls as young as 13 have been victims of grooming gangs

* Bristol - Some 13 Somali men were jailed for more than a total of more than 100 years after they were convicted in 2014 of running an inner city sex ring. Victims as young as 13 were preyed upon, sexually abused and trafficked across Bristol to be passed around the men's friends for money. * Aylesbury - Six Asian men were jailed in 2015 for grooming vulnerable under-age white girls between 2006 and 2012. The Old Bailey heard victims would be plied with alcohol and forced to perform sex acts for as little as "the price of a McDonalds".

GETTY Police and authorities are said to be inundated with complaints of grooming gangs

Three Girls: What really happened in the Rochdale scandal Thu, May 18, 2017 Three Girls: What really happened in the Rochdale sexual abuse scandal. Play slideshow BBC 1 of 16 Three Girls: What really happened in the Rochdale sex scandal