South Yorkshire Police could be removed from investigating “disturbing” claims its own officers were involved in abusing Rotherham grooming gang victims, The i Paper understands.
Five women who were exploited in the town say they were also sexually abused by police officers at the time.
According to the BBC, one girl was raped from the age of 12 in a marked police car and the officer threatened to hand her back to the groomers if she did not do as he said.
Three former police officers have been arrested as part of a fresh investigation which is currently being led by detectives at South Yorkshire Police (SYP) and overseen by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
Professor Alexis Jay, who authored the landmark report which found at least 1,400 girls were abused in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013, has said she is “shocked” that SYP are being allowed to lead the investigation.
She suggested it should be handed to another force or an independent body.
The i Paper understands political leaders in South Yorkshire are “open to the argument” that the probe should be taken off the local force.
However, there is also a feeling that South Yorkshire is now a “very different” force from the one which allowed the Rotherham grooming scandal to unfold and new leadership should be allowed to prove it has changed.
Oliver Coppard, South Yorkshire Mayor (Photo: Peter Byrne/PA Wire)Assistant Chief Constable Hayley Barnett admitted that it must be “hard” for victims who have been “badly let down in the past to put their faith into the South Yorkshire Police of today.”
But she insisted that victims and survivors are now treated “with the utmost respect and care”.
ACC Barnett added that the ongoing investigation is being “directed” by the IOPC and that her force is also “working closely” with experts at the National Crime Agency.
Oliver Coppard, Labour’s mayor for South Yorkshire, told The i Paper earlier this year that he does not believe people in “positions of power and responsibility” at the time of the Rotherham scandal have felt “the full force of justice” and that he would support criminal prosecutions.
In May, Coppard appointed Kilvinder Vigurs, a former probation officer and senior civil servant to be the first Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime in South Yorkshire.
The Rotherham child abuse scandal saw multiple alleged failings by senior officers (Photo: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)Reacting to the claims that police officers were involved in abuse, she said: “These allegations are disturbing, and I recognise that there will be very real concerns about these new reports amongst victims, survivors and our wider community.
“It is vital that victims have confidence in the IOPC-directed South Yorkshire Police investigation that is currently underway.
“To that end, I will continue to monitor the progress of that investigation and seek assurances from both organisations that victims remain at the heart of their approach.”
She said Rotherham Council and South Yorkshire Police are under “new leadership and new direction” and that a “significant number of perpetrators of historic CSE (Child Sexual Exploitation) have been arrested and convicted.”
Vigurs added: “But I am clear that more needs to be done to bring perpetrators who are still out there to justice, so it is vital victims continue to share any information they may have and we are able to make sure justice is done.
“While I’m unable to comment further as this is a live investigation, I will be keeping the situation under close review.”
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