Girls who suffered at hands of Rochdale grooming gangs were ‘let down time and time again’ | UK | News

Girls in Rochdale who suffered “horrendous sexual abuse after being preyed on by grooming gangs were let down “time and time again” by the authorities, the NSPCC has said. Anna Edmundson, the children’s charity’s head of policy, was speaking after the publication of a damning 173-page report setting out numerous failed investigations by Greater Manchester Police (GMP) and apparent local authority indifference to the plight of hundreds of youngsters.

Most of the victims were white girls from poor backgrounds, all of who were identified as potential targets of abuse in Rochdale by Asian men.

Alarmingly, the report, commissioned by Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, identified 96 men still deemed a potential risk to children, adding that this was « only a proportion » of the numbers involved in the abuse.

Ms Edmundson said: “This report makes clear that girls suffering horrendous sexual abuse were let down by authorities time and again and children were put at further risk because of the failings of institutions that should have been protecting them.