Telford child sex exploitation inquiry 'could last twice as long as Rotherham'
The Telford child sexual exploitation inquiry chairman today warned that the process could stretch into 2021, making it “significantly longer” than the Rotherham inquiry.
Tom Crowther QC says his team need to hear from “as many survivors as feel able to help us” to do their job effectively, and promised support for those who come forward.
Mr Crowther was appointed to chair the Independent Inquiry into Telford Child Sexual Exploitation last month.
The former judge and barrister was speaking at a public session as part of a pre-inquiry consultation process.
He told the session: “I said, in reply to my appointment, that the most important part of this process is involving survivors and hearing their truth, and I hope this early consultation on how we are going to approach our task shows we take our obligation to the community seriously.”
See also:
He said the inquiry team has a “wealth of experience” to add to his own 25-year career in criminal law.
“I have prosecuted and presided over trials involving child sexual abuse and child sexual exploitation,” he said.
“Furthermore, I have trained judges in the proper approach to trials of this sort under rules that were brought in as a result of the failure of the first Operation Chalice.
“Because this inquiry is independent, it sets its own terms of reference; that is, the boundaries within which we are going to work.
“The purpose of this meeting, and the wider consultation process that is going on, is to ensure all those who want a say in how we approach our task have the opportunity to do so.”
Counselling
But he added that, in order to do the job effectively, they “need to hear from as many survivors of exploitation as feel able to help us”.
Mr Crowther said: “We intend to put measures in place to protect those who are giving evidence to us, including providing flexibility as to where and how we hear evidence, and the provision of counselling and support.
“Given that the signs are that this exploitation is outstanding and convictions have been relatively slow, the inquiry cannot attribute criminal liability and convictions and can’t attribute civil liability either. This is not a court.
“How long will the inquiry process take place? We don’t know and can’t know. Much will depend on decisions that will be taken as a result of this consultation on the terms of reference.”
He said the time period and the scope of cases the inquiry ended up examining would influence its overall length.
“If we take on a longer period of time to investigate, a longer period will follow,” he said.
Mr Crowther said Professor Alexis Jay’s inquiry into the Rotherham CSE scandal took nine months to report.
“We regard our task as being significantly longer,” he said.
“This is unlikely to take less than 18 months.”
The session was part of a wider consultation period which will end at noon on Friday, July 5 and help towards the drafting of the inquiry’s terms of reference. Details on how to contribute can be found at www.iitcse.com
