ONE boy in the Bradford district could have been groomed or abused by as many as 33 different men, police have revealed.

The shocking case was discussed by police and councillors at a meeting which looked at whether enough is being done to combat child sexual exploitation, in the wake of wide-scale abuse uncovered in Rotherham.

Superintendent Vince Firth, of Bradford District Police, said the case also belied two common misconceptions about the crime as it involved a male victim and white suspects.

He told the Council's executive yesterday: "Sometimes we miss the fact that this happens to boys as well as girls.

"In relation to that boy, there were 33 suspects. It was an online grooming case."

He said police had so far managed to identify 30 of the suspects, of which 14 had been convicted and four were awaiting trial.

With 11 men, police had decided to take no further action and an investigation into one suspect was ongoing, the meeting heard.

Supt Firth said all the suspects were white Europeans, which he mentioned "just to deal with some of the stereotypes around child sexual exploitation".

Supt Firth said another key area for investigators was revisiting historical abuse cases, to try to bring perpetrators to justice and get counselling or support for the victims.

He said: "We may have missed some of the signs that our children in the past were being subjected to this very terrible crime, because it is a very complex crime.

"Children don't think of themselves as victims, as they think they're in a relationship with someone, and it's only until later life when they are adults that they see they were being exploited and abused."

Council leader David Green urged anyone who had been a victim of abuse as a child to come forward and talk to the authorities, even if they had reported it before and their claims had been dismissed.

"Whatever their experience eight, ten years ago, it will be different now. You will be believed. It will be investigated," said Cllr Green

And Councillor Ralph Berry, executive member for children's services, warned that there would be some "awful" cases coming to court shortly.

He said: "I want to remind people that success in this business is getting these people to court and getting them to prison."

Cllr Berry said he thought the efforts to tackle child sexual exploitation were working well, but sounded a note of caution.

He said: "I think we have made a step-change here, but I don't know what's around the corner."

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