No child sex gangs in our region, claims Shropshire Council report
There is no evidence of any organised child sex gangs operating in the Shropshire Council area, according to a new report.
The report, which will go before councillors next week, found that the use of illegal drugs to lure children into sexual activity was the biggest cause of exploitation in the area.
It identified 67 children across the district as being ‘at risk’ of sexual exploitation, with 15 of these falling into the ‘high risk’ category.
Senior council officers Jeanette Hill and Dot Johnson, who wrote the report, said in the majority of case victims tended to consider the man exploiting them as their boyfriend.
And the youngsters were often introduced to the offenders either through an older brother or sister, or through mutual friends.
They also revealed that a special operation had taken place where men from Telford suspected of targeting children were asked to leave a junior disco in Shrewsbury.
Their report added that businesses shared intelligence and photographs of suspected offenders to prevent exploitation taking place.
The report will be presented to the council’s ‘people overview’ committee on Wednesday next week.
Last month it was revealed that in neighbouring Telford & Wrekin police and council workers were working with 46 young people deemed to be vulnerable.
The figures emerged after a national newspaper branded Telford the 'sex crime capital of Britain'.
Miss Hill and Mrs Johnson identified six boys and 61 girls under the age of 16 in the Shropshire Council area who were considered to be at risk of sexual exploitation. In addition to the 15 categorised as 'high risk', 27 were recorded as being at 'medium risk' and 25 at 'low risk'.
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Miss Hill said the most common problem in Shropshire was offenders using drugs to lure youngsters into sexual activity.
"From data and intelligence it is clear that there is a strong link between substance misuse and exploitation," she said.
"Drug use, and its use as a tool to engage children into sexual activity, remains the number one theme in referrals in Shropshire."
Miss Hill said offenders typically presented themselves as 'boyfriends' to potential victims.
They were also often introduced to children through an older brother or sister, or as the friend of a friend, she said.
But she said that, to date, the council had not identified any gang-related exploitation within the Shropshire Council area.
Mrs Johnson said several high-profile operations had taken place to prevent sexual exploitation of children in Shrewsbury, including at a nightclub's junior disco in the town, adding: "Perpetrators from Telford have been disrupted and dispersed from under-18 events."
Mrs Johnson said the night-time economy in Shropshire had increased by 20 per cent over the past year. To reflect this, training was being provided to licensees, hotel staff and taxi drivers to spot the signs of sexual exploitation.
She said licensed premises shared photographs and intelligence, and said the next step would be to deploy "club angels" inside late-night premises.
Mrs Johnson revealed that care home staff had to physically restrain a 15-year-old girl to prevent her absconding with an older man who was waiting in a car.
"This one act of safeguarding, where a worker stepped outside a restraint policy, allowed this young lady to feel protected and safe such that some days later she disclosed a catalogue of abuse and exploitation that was previously unknown," she said.
The report also revealed that a 19-year-old white man from Harlescott was arrested and questioned by police in relation to 12 alleged offences, including rape, sexual assault and grooming.
He was alleged to have contacted under-age girls in Shrewsbury, and often driven them back to his home where they were plied with drugs and alcohol. The man has been bailed pending further inquiries.
Miss Hill said all children who were identified as being at risk of sexual exploitation were tracked to ensure the danger was kept to a minimum.
"All the children identified at risk level medium and above have allocated social workers," she said.
She said a panel of experts set up to tackle child sex exploitation met once a month to discuss the situation in the county. This included updates on the hotspots in the county where such activity was taking place, and measures that could be taken to disrupt it, she said.
