Nothing was done about child sexual exploitation in South Yorkshire because the girls involved were seen as prostitutes, a police commissioner has said.

Alan Billings, police and crime commissioner for the local force, said “it all went wrong” because police did not understand what grooming was or that it was child abuse.

Billings was speaking after reports revealed that police were warned 10 years ago about the extent of the problem in South Yorkshire but did nothing about it.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I don’t think any of us at that time understood what grooming was and that this was grooming.

“I think we saw these girls not as victims but as troublesome young people out of control and willing participants. We saw it as child prostitution rather than child abuse, and I think that was broadly accepted and that’s why it all went wrong.”

Billings said police were prioritising burglary and car theft because of public demands at the time.

He added that the problem was a cultural issue, which went beyond South Yorkshire police.

A report by Prof Alexis Jay published last August revealed that at least 1,400 children were raped, trafficked and groomed in Rotherham.

A further review by Louise Casey, published this year, led to the mass resignation of the council’s ruling Labour cabinet. The communities secretary, Eric Pickles, ordered government-appointed commissioners to take over the running of the council.

Reports written by Dr Angie Heal in 2003 and 2006 have been made public following a freedom of information request by the Star newspaper in Sheffield.

The Star revealed that Heal provided police with the names of suspected offenders in 2003 but said nothing was done with the information. Heal, who worked for South Yorkshire police at the time, uncovered evidence of child exploitation while working on a report about crack cocaine.

She told the Star: “I had never come across this issue of organised child abuse in this kind of way.”

Her report notes a number of missed opportunities to catch offenders. An 18-year-old woman was charged with theft after she reported being raped by a well-known heroin dealer but was never questioned about the rape.



Police took seven months to contact a man who offered his house as an observation post after noticing significant numbers of teenage girls attending his neighbour’s home.

The 2006 report claimed abuse was continuing across South Yorkshire, particularly in Sheffield and Rotherham. Heal noted a lack of police response and said victims were reluctant to come forward to give information to the police.

She told the Star she submitted updates every six months after an initial report in 2002 but no action appeared to be taken.



South Yorkshire police is subject to an ongoing independent investigation by the IPCC and Billings recently announced a county-wide inspection after allegations about child sex exploitation in Sheffield.

A police spokeswoman said: “The chief constable understands and accepts this inspection is necessary to gain an understanding of past issues across the county and allow the force to begin the process of rebuilding public confidence.

“South Yorkshire police has made significant progress in tackling child sexual exploitation but we understand more needs to be done. There has been a significant increase in the number of police officers and staff dedicated to tackling child sexual exploitation and we are absolutely committed to achieving justice, stopping the harm and preventing future offending.”

The spokeswoman said there were ongoing investigations into historic allegations and a number of arrests had been made.



