Child Abuse Asian Child Rapists

Disproportionate number of child sex offenders 'are Asian men'


Study carried out in wake of conviction of grooming gang in Derbyshire

Peter Davies, director of the CEOP, warned that the data was not comprehensive enough to draw firm conclusions. He said: 'Focusing on this problem simply through the lens of ethnicity does not do it service.'

A disproportionate number of child sex offenders 'are Asian men' a survey appears to suggest.

The report was undertaken after the conviction of the ringleaders of a grooming gang in Derbyshire which preyed on girls aged between 12 and 18.

Half of the 2,379 offenders identified in the research revealed today by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre gave their ethnicity, with 26 per cent of those being Asian and 38 per cent white.



This compares with the general population of the UK which is around 90 per cent white and about four per cent Asian.

Controversy erupted over the ethnicity issue when former justice secretary Jack Straw accused some Pakistani men in Britain of seeing white girls as 'easy meat' for sexual abuse.



In January, Mr Straw said child sex grooming was a 'specific problem' in the Pakistani community which needed to be 'more open' about the reasons behind it.

However, Peter Davies, director of the CEOP, warned that the data was not comprehensive enough to draw firm conclusions.



He said: 'Focusing on this problem simply through the lens of ethnicity does not do it service.'



And the report added: 'Caution should be taken in drawing conclusions about ethnicity due to the relatively small number of areas where agencies have been proactive around this particular type of crime'.



Jailed: Abid Mohammed Saddique (left) and Mohammed Romaan Liaqat (right), were leaders of the paedophile ring in Derby



A breakdown of the offenders recorded since the start of 2008 found most were men aged 18 to 24. Ethnicity had only been identified in half the cases.

More...Paedophile with computer file of 22 dead baby pictures reached 'new level of depravity'



Of these, 26 per cent were Asian, 38 per cent were white, 32 per cent were recorded as unknown, three per cent black and 0.2 per cent Chinese.

Around 90 per cent of the victims were white.

The catalyst for the study was the conviction of the Derbyshire paedophile gang leaders in January.



A court heard Abid Saddique and Mohammed Liaqat, who were each married with a child, cruised the streets of Derby in a car looking for victims while their unsuspecting families waited at home for them.

The vulnerable children were plied with vodka stored under the seats of the car and were taken to parks, hotel rooms or houses, where they were sometimes offered cocaine before being pressured into sex.



The CEOP report is based on testimonies from victims, police and child protection workers, as well as a review of existing research.

Some of the victims were runaways, and CEOP has found that missing children or those who run away from home are the most susceptible to grooming.

The CEOP research released today also found that two thirds of protection services provided by local councils failed to hit national recommendations and failed to put in place 'basic processes' to stop sexual abuse.

Mr Davies said he was 'shocked, surprised and disappointed' at the lack of action.



''This is a horrific kind of crime. It involves systematic, premeditated rape of children and needs to be understood in those stark terms. It needs to be brought out of the dark'Speaking about some council children's boards, Mr Davies said: 'They do not appear to have set up the basic processes that are expected in the national guidelines to tackle child sexual exploitation.'

He described the abuse of children as a 'horrific systemic crime that is designed to take place under their radar'.



The CEOP study had focused on 'localised grooming' that takes place in person, for example on the street, rather than via the internet.

The report is based on testimonies from victims, police and child protection workers, as well as a review of existing research.

Mr Davies said: 'This is a horrific kind of crime. It involves systematic, premeditated rape of children and needs to be understood in those stark terms. It needs to be brought out of the dark.'



The study found that victims had trouble engaging with police and were 'hugely reluctant' to give evidence against their 'ruthless' abusers in court.



Mr Davies said: 'They did not expect to be believed, they did not expect to be supported.'



Victims are cut off from their normal support networks in the grooming process, are left 'disorientated' and are emotionally manipulated as part of the abuse.



Children's charities called for action to provide a clearer picture of the scale of the problem.



John Grounds, director of the NSPCC's Child Protection Consultancy, said: 'This is an important piece of work as it has underlined some vital issues around the street grooming of children.

Cruising the streets: Police surveillance footage shows Mohammed Liaqat and Abid Mohammed Saddique in their BMW speaking to girls in Derby

'Worryingly it is virtually a hidden problem - as this report highlights - there is very little data to give a clear picture of how extensive it is.



'We would like to see better and more consistent data collection and improved training for professionals working in this field.



'Hopefully this research by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre will encourage the relevant agencies to adopt a much more coordinated approach to this type of grooming.



'It puts vulnerable children at risk of serious sex abuse and leaves them at the mercy of unscrupulous men who pretend to be their friends but in reality are dangerous predators.'



The Children's Society's policy director Enver Solomon called for a greater focus on the 100,000 children under 16 who run away each year.



He said: 'For far too long child grooming has been a hidden issue, with dangerous perpetrators targeting vulnerable girls and boys in the shadows of our society.

'The CEOP assessment exposes the significant challenges faced in stamping out this shocking abuse. Critically it highlights that children who run away are particularly vulnerable to exploitation yet professionals are often unaware of this.



'Child grooming cannot be addressed without actively looking at the issue of children running away.'



Terina Keene, chief executive at Railway Children, said: 'A much better grip on the numbers and evidence must be the first major step in tackling child sexual exploitation and grooming.



'The brakes also need to be put on the indiscriminate cuts into youth provision, otherwise a vital frontline link to those most at risk will be lost and the clearest possible picture of the problem will become a blur to both Government and police, making the safeguarding of these children pot luck.'



Mr Davies said more research will be carried out into the type of people guilty of sexually abusing children, including their ethnicity. Their motivations will also be examined.