Serious case review to be held into historic child sexual abuse in Bradford

It follows a case earlier this year where nine men were jailed for a total of 132 years for their roles in the “wicked and relentless” grooming, rape and sexual exploitation of two vulnerable girls from a Bradford care home.

The court heard the abused girls became friends in the children's home before they were “relentlessly sexually abused.”

The teenager abused by all nine defendants was taken to other cities, and men from elsewhere in the country attended at the “party house” in Bradford where drugs and alcohol were freely available.

She read out her victim personal statement to a hushed and packed courtroom back in February.

The young woman told of the multiple mental health problems she had suffered daily since the age of 15 and the nightmares and panic attacks that left her struggling to breathe.

“I can’t change what happened but getting justice is the first step to moving on from this,” she said.

Gladys Rhodes White, Interim Strategic Director of Children’s Services, said: “Carrying out a serious case review (SCR) is best practice when a serious incident has occurred. In my view, the Chair of the Children’s Safeguarding Board is right to assess that the horrendous CSE crimes committed by nine men who have been recently convicted. SCRs focus on learning and how to develop best practice.

"We can’t stop people committing crime,but we can ensure that agencies in our district are able to respond as effectively as possible to protect young people from abuse.

“I welcome the fact that this SCR will go further than just these crimes and look at other previous CSE cases and will endeavour to contact survivors. We would encourage any victims of CSE, past or present, to come forward so they can get the right support and help us work with the police to pursue those who committed these crimes.”

While Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, Leader of Bradford Council, said: “We welcome the fact that the Bradford Safeguarding Children Board has announced that it will commission a thematic review of child sexual exploitation in the light of the recent conviction of nine men for serious historic CSE crimes.

"It will allow for a thorough review of the agency working around CSE at that time and how practice is carried out now. The recent convictions mean that this is timely.

"We would not have been able to carry out this review prior to the conclusion of the trial and the conviction of the perpetrators involved.

“Importantly, the review will also listen to victims and we will be actively working to encourage others to come forward.

"We know it takes real bravery to come forward if you have suffered from this terrible crime.

"If new victims come forward, we will do everything we can to work with the police and support them.”