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Police have today been forced to publish a damning child sexual exploitation problem profile document after a Birmingham Mail campaign - and admitted 'significant similarities' to the Rotherham abuse scandal.

The 120-plus page report, released only after our Freedom of Information request, reveals startling new details about the on-street grooming gangs and online perverts targeting our children.

The document tells how the CSE situation in Birmingham has 'significant similarities' with Rotherham, where 1,600victims were abused by Asian grooming gangs.

The new West Midland reports states: There are significant similarities to the Rotherham victim/offender and location

profiles. It goes on to state:

*The majority of offenders are typically Asian, of Pakistani origin, aged from 17 to 40.

*A number of Organised Crime Groups associated with CSE exist in the West Midlands. Many are associated with areas of high population densities of Pakistan heritage.

*Victims are typically, but not exclusively, white females aged 13 to 16. Approximately a third are living in care homes and of those living at home, some 25 per cent will have lived in a care home and up to 60 per cent will have an allocated case worker.

*Victims are strongly associated with frequent missing episodes. Home Debriefs suggest victims are transported widely across the West Midlands and the wider region whilst missing and are abused by multiple men.

*Targeting of victims takes place mainly at children’s homes and schools. Offending typically takes place in private houses or hotels often under the guise of “house” parties. Offences also take place in parks.

The report carries 46 recommendations, including telling councils and police to improve CSE data collection as well as offer more training to staff to increase awareness of the problem.

In terms of offenders, the report states: "A profile dating back to 2010 identifies that the majority of suspects and or offenders are Asian (79 per cent) with a large proportioin being of Pakistani heritage and are likely to be from a Muslim faith background. Subsequent profiles identify offenders as typically Asian of Pakistani heritage and aged from 17 to 40 years of age with an average age of (redacted). 49 per cent of offenders live in Birmingham...."

In terms of location, the report states: "There were a total of 42 identified vulnerable locations from previous problem profiles including a number of children’s homes and schools where victims of sexual exploitation are targeted and groomed and a number of hotels and parks which are used meet victims of sexual exploitation and subsequently commit offences11;

"In addition previous problem profiles dating back to 2010 identified these locations as situated on Birmingham (37 per cent), Dudley (15 per cent), Sandwell (13 per cent), Coventry (6 per cent), Walsall (9 per cent), Wolverhampton (8 per cent), and Solihull (7 per cent)12 LPUs13."

West Midlands Police and the region’s seven local authorities jointly commissioned the in-depth problem profile for both on-street and online CSE last year, but the findings were never made public.

But in January the Mail revealed the on-street profile had discovered a ‘disproportionately high’ number of suspected offenders were of Pakistani Muslim origin, both British born and migrants. The ethnicity link mirrored that of other cities hit by CSE scandals, including Rotherham and Rochdale.

In terms of online grooming, the majority of suspected offenders were said to be white, middle-aged and often middle-class men. Yet investigations are increasingly showing a rising number of teenage boys also becoming involved, abusing girls via the web from their bedrooms.

In total, West Midlands Police has conducted five CSE profiles since 2009, including two last year. None have ever been made public, despite the apparent clear public interest.

The full scale of the CSE problem in the region is still emerging. Police and councils initially identified 210 children who had fallen victim or who were at risk of abuse over six months last year - but that figure was recalculated to 480 last month.

The Mail has been consistently shining a light on CSE with our investigations, despite the historical lack of information from police and councils on the subject.

In October we told how an internal police problem profile from 2012 had shown 75 per cent of known on-street groomers in the West Midlands were Asian, with 82 per cent of victims aged 14 to 16 being white.

Yet Birmingham City Council had played down the ethnicity link when it published its own report into CSE in November, called We Need To Get It Right. It stated: “The high-profile cases have largely drawn explicit attention to the girls being ‘white’ and the perpetrators ‘Asian’. Our evidence has shouted out that the exploitation can happen to anybody irrespective of where you live or your family circumstances.’’

It later added... “this crime can be carried out by anyone and to shine a light on just one community or type of person puts other children at risk.’’

In November we told how a 20-year-old Birmingham council commissioned report which had first raised the links with CSE and Asian taxi drivers had been ‘buried’ by not being fully published.

Child Protection boss Peter Hay went public to deny our claims and to state the report had been published in full, but was eventually forced to backtrack when pressed on the point on national radio.

Meanwhile, West Midlands Police has breached statutory guidelines by being too slow in providing information on their latest problem profile,

We submitted our Freedom of Information request on March 5 and the problem profile should have been provided within 20 working days. But it took the force’s FOI unit 39 working days to provide the heavily redacted profile.

Ironically, the department - which consistently fails to hit the 20-day deadline with other Mail requests - insisted it had a duty to put our FOI onto the force website without hours of sending it to us because it said the information contained was ‘in the public interest’.

The West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson has urged councils and police to implement the 46 recommendations of the report in full and as quickly as possible.

He said: "The West Midlands like every area across the country has child sexual exploitation issues. It is something that the police, local councils and I recognise and are working hard to tackle. We are not afraid to be critical of ourselves, especially if it means that we find out more about what the issues are and children are safer as a result.



"Crimes stay hidden if we duck and shy-away from the tough questions. This report raises difficult issues, but the way to tackle hidden crimes is to bring them out into the open and that is what we are doing. It is only by facing up to these issues that we will protect potential victims and bring the perpetrators to justice.



"The police take this issue very seriously, that is why we have increased the number of officers working in the Public Protection Unit from 300 to 800 and are working closely with the region's local councils to keep children safe from harm.



"This report poses tough questions that the police and local authorities need to work together on to answer. We need a concerted effort and a joined-up approach to tackle child sexual exploitation in the West Midlands.



"The report has been co-ordinated by the police so that we have a better understanding of the child sexual exploitation issues in the region and so that we make sure that our children are protected.



"There are self-recommendations for the police and local authorities in the report. These recommendations are being implemented and need to be enacted in full as soon as possible.



"This is an important report that the public should know about. West Midlands Police have agreed to release this information on a regular basis. Child sexual exploitation is too serious an issue to be hidden away. I am pleased that this information will now be published regularly and put in the public domain.



"We have invited HMIC to inspect ourselves to show that improvements are being made rapidly."

*Click here to read the 46 recommendations in the report.