Rotherham was rocked by the sexual grooming scandal (Picture: AFP/Getty Images)

One of the victims of the notorious Rotherham grooming gang was initially told she ‘consented’ to it by a government body.

Sammy Woodhouse, who was waived her right to anonymity, is now 32, but was just 14 when she fell victim to Arshid Hussain. He was 24 when they first met.

Hussain – also known as Mad Ash – was one of the three brothers behind the sexual abuse of more than 50 girls in South Yorkshire. He was jailed for his crimes in 2016.

In court it was revealed how Hussain, his three brothers and their associates all raped, tortured and prostituted young girls in the Yorkshire town for years.




The abuser made Ms Woodhouse pregnant twice, and she gave birth to a child when she was just 15. Her family reported it to the police, but the force took no action at the time.

Ms Woodhouse was 14 when she first met ‘Mad Ash’ (Picture: PA)

At first, Ms Woodhouse was denied compensation by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA), because they said there was no evidence that she had been manipulated.

In their response to the victim, they said: ‘I am not satisfied that your consent was falsely given as a result of being groomed by the offender. The evidence does not indicate that you were manipulated or progressively lured into a false relationship.’

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After appealing against the decision Ms Woodhouse was offered a small settlement. This was eventually altered, and she was awarded the maximum amount she qualified for.

Her solicitor, David Greenwood, said: ‘I am utterly shocked by the notion that decision-makers in a government organisation can consider that 14 or 15-year-old girls can consent to sex with adults.

‘They decided she must have consented, when it’s just not legally possible.’

Ms Woodhouse added: ‘If an adult can privately think that it’s the child’s fault for being abused, beaten, raped, abducted, I think you’re in the wrong job.’

She met Arshid Hussain when she was just 14 and he was 24 (Picture: South Yorkshire Police)

But she isn’t the only child abuse victim still trying to contend with CICA.

A Freedom of Information request revealed that almost 700 young victims of sexual abuse, including grooming, had their compensation applications refused in the last five years.

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After the shocking revelations, the government has confirmed that CICA is reviewing its guidelines.

It comes just weeks after it emerged that dozens of Rotherham victims were still waiting for their compensation to be agreed.

Victims gave evidence as part of Operation Clover, an investigation that resulted in 13 people being given combined jail sentences of 199 years after two major trials in 2015 and 2016.

Arshid Hussain, seated, outside Sheffield Crown Court (Picture: PA)

A coalition of charities, including Barnardos, Victim Support and Liberty, revealed that since CICA was launched in November 2012, almost 700 child victims of sexual abuse had been refused payments.

More than 50 civil claims made against South Yorkshire Police and Rotherham Council over the grooming scandal are still outstanding.

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Years after the victims gave evidence, just a handful of cases have been settled, with payouts running into six figures.

Justice Secretary David Liddington MP recently told the Commons that CICA was mounting ‘an urgent re-examination of its own internal guidelines’.



He added: ‘In particular to make sure that there is no risk that a child could be disqualified from compensation because they had been groomed.’

The full story will be broadcast on BBC’s Inside Out tonight at 7.30pm on BBC One.