A police force in South Yokshire, UK is criticised for turning a blind eye to the sexual exploitation of 1,400 children in Rotherham has been further rebuked for “weaknesses” in its child protection procedures. Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) said that South Yorkshire police had “limited understanding” of the risk posed by offenders who target vulnerable children, while officers showed an inconsistent response to child sexual exploitation.
According to the article, inspectors found that officers had failed to tell social services when two 13-year-old girls went missing from their care homes. Both had been identified as at risk of being exploited for sex. But when one breached her bail condition to stay at the care home, she was arrested after being found at the home of a sex offender with condoms in her possession. Assistant chief constable Ingrid Lee said steps being taken to address the issues, including a central referral unit for referrals relating to children, multi-agency teams in every district, a liaison officer to engage with children in care in Doncaster, polygraph tests for known sex offenders and more information about child sex offenders and domestic abuse being shared with the public.