Paedophiles are still grooming and abusing children ‘in every city around the country‘, the police officer who brought down one of Britain’s most dangerous sex rings warned today.
Simon Morton, a former senior detective for Thames Valley Police, has said that abusers are still operating in plain sight and ‘influencing and arranging others to do the same thing’.
Mr Morton’s led the Operation Bullfinch investigation that saw 24 men of mainly Pakistani origin jailed for a total of 250 years child sex offences in the Oxford area – but he warned today: ‘The guys we couldn’t catch are still out there’.
More than 300 mainly white young women and the surrounding area were groomed, raped, prostituted, given backstreet abortions and forced into ‘sex slavery’ over 15 years. They were systematically abused by up to ten men at a time in parks, flats and B&Bs across Oxford.
One rape victim, who was 12, was branded with the initial of a man because he claimed to ‘own her’ and eventually fell pregnant with one of her abuser’s children.
Mr Morton said that the problem has not gone away.
‘When we did this investigation, we spoke to lots of girls and there were even more offenders or suspects,’ he told the BBC.
‘We weren’t able to turn some of the girls to talk to us and tell us their story. We had only a small amount of victims come and give evidence. It was much bigger than that’, he said.
Former Thames Valley police officer Simon Morton, who led the investigation into Oxford’s child abuse ring, has said that the
Members of the sex abuse ring of mainly Pakistani origin that abused dozens of children
Abuse: More than 300 young people, mainly from Oxford, pictured, were groomed, raped and sometimes forced into ‘sex slavery’ by gangs over the last 15 years
Mr Morton said that a lack of trust in police and social services from victims means that they continue to suffer in silence.
Responding to their former officer’s claims, Thames Valley Police today said: ‘There are now more police officers and detectives working in child abuse investigation and the management of sexual offenders and a new dedicated team monitor all investigations into missing people and identify patterns or underlying issues,’ it said.
The force added that the exploitation of children ‘is and continues to be a priority’.
The sex gang scandal in Oxford was on a similar scale to the abuse uncovered in Rotherham, Rochdale and Derby.
One of gang of Asian men was responsible for abusing and enslaving 50 girls alone in the The City of Dreaming Spires.
The men were able to sexually torture girls as young as 11 for eight years after a series of missed opportunities to stop them.
On numerous occasions girls told police officers, social workers and care staff in children’s homes how they were raped or seriously sexually abused – but no charges were brought against the gang.
Three of the girls who gave evidence at the trial were reported missing from residential care on 254 occasions.
In 2013 life sentences were handed to Akhtar Dogar and his brother Anjum, who were both jailed for a minimum of 17 years,
Mohammed Karrar was told he would serve a minimum of 20 years, his brother Bassam was jailed for a minimum of 15 years and Kamar Jamil jailed for a minimum of 12 years.
Assad Hussain and Zeeshan Ahmed were jailed for seven years.
One social worker had told their trial that ‘nine out of ten’ people who were meant to be caring for the girls ‘knew what was going on’, with one child reported missing from her children’s home more than 250 times in one year.
Oxford sex ring involving prostitution and sex trafficking of young girls.From L to R: Zeeshan Ahmed, Akhtar Dogar, Anjum Dogar, Kamar Jamil, Bassam Karrar, Mohammed Karrar, Assad Hussain
The victims, who were mainly girls under the age of 16 in the care system, were targeted by men from mainly Asian gangs who raped, tortured and trafficked them for sex between 1999 and 2014.
Some were abused for up to eight years despite asking for help from the authorities, who instead refused to believe them or blamed them.
Their abusers fed them drink and drugs before taking them to graveyards, a B&B and flats rented just for the rape and torture of children.
One 12-year-old girl was taken to a Reading house for a backstreet abortion during a six-year period where she was passed between groups of men who raped her in what she called ‘torture sex’.
The plight of the victims was laid bare in 2013 when seven members of a sadistic gang were jailed for a total of 95 years for their ‘depraved’ and ‘evil’ abuse of vulnerable girls.
Five gang members were given life sentences and two others were jailed for seven years for ‘crimes of the utmost gravity’.
The paedophile network groomed more than 50 vulnerable girls in Oxford between 2004 and 2012 with gifts, alcohol and drugs before subjecting them to extreme physical and sexual violence.
They used knives, meat cleavers and baseball bats to inflict severe pain on the girls for their twisted pleasure.
But a catalogue of opportunities to stop the abuse was missed as early as May 2005.
Jailed: Brothers Akhtar Dogar (left) and Anjum Dogar (right) were each given a life sentence with a minimum of 17 years at the Old Bailey in 2013 for their role in the Oxford abuse
Abusers: Mohammed Karrar (left), 38, was given life with a minimum of 20 years for the ‘dreadful offences’ he committed against the girls. His brother Bassam Karrar (right), 34, was also handed a life sentence with a minimum of 15 years
Attackers: Kamar Jamil (left), 27, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 12 years while Assad Hussain (right) , 32, was sentenced to seven years in prison
A serious case review in 2015 came weeks after true scale of abuse in Rotherham was revealed, where at least 1,400 girls fell into the clutches of paedophiles, mainly from Pakistani backgrounds.
Whistleblowers who tried to raise concerns lost their jobs, and police officers often did not seem to believe the girls, their families or those who reported problems, and did not treat them as victims.
One former police officer said: ‘They were running scared of the race issue… there is no doubt that in Rotherham, this has been a problem with Pakistani men for years and years. People were scared of being called racist.’
Similar paedophile rings were uncovered in Rochdale and Derby.
Elon Musk cheered on Tory leader Kemi Badenoch as she demanded Sir Keir Starmer be a ‘leader not a lawyer’ and allow a national inquiry into grooming gangs.
During angry clashes at PMQs yesterday afternoon, Mrs Badenoch piled pressure on the Prime Minister to establish a fresh probe into child sexual exploitation.
But the Labour premier again rejected those calls and said he had met victims this morning who told him a new inquiry would only mean ‘delay’ on Government action.
During clashes at PMQs, the premier insisted that victims had told him a new probe would only mean ‘delay’
He acknowledged there were ‘mixed views’ among survivors – but accused Kemi Badenoch of ‘shocking’ behaviour in tabling an amendment that would trigger a new official inquiry
The Tories have stepped up their attack with an ad saying: ‘Do you think there should be an inquiry into rape gangs? Keir Starmer doesn’t.’
Elon Musk, who is engaged in a bitter feud with the PM, cheered on Mrs Badenoch following her attack on Sir Keir at PMQs
Sir Keir acknowledged there were ‘mixed views’ among survivors – but accused Mrs Badenoch of ‘shocking’ behaviour in tabling an amendment that would force a new official inquiry.
The PM argued that ‘slinging of mud’ did not help anyone. But Mrs Badenoch shot back that ‘no one has joined the dots’ or had a ‘full picture’ of what had happened – and might still be happening.
‘It’s not about you, it’s about the victims. Be a leader, not a lawyer,’ she said.
‘We know that people were scared to tell the truth because they thought they’d be called racist. If we want to stop this from ever happening again we cannot be afraid.’
Mr Musk, the world’s richest man who has launched a barrage of attacks on Sir Keir over his record on tackling grooming gangs, praised Mrs Badenoch’s comments on social media.
Posting on X, the social media site he owns that was formerly known as Twitter, he wrote: ‘Well said by @KemiBadenoch.’
With Labour holding a massive majority in the House, the amendment failed last night.