A former police officer who headed a grooming investigation in Oxford has warned that similar sexual abuse is still happening, saying that the “guys we couldn’t catch are still out there”. Simon Morton, the former senior investigator for Thames Valley Police, told the BBC that perpetrators in the region are operating in plain view and are “influencing and arranging others to do the same thing”. He added that grooming is “obviously” happening in every city throughout the UK, a claim confirmed by a police source.
Morton led Operation Bullfinch, Oxford’s biggest criminal inquiry in history, and resulted in 21 men’s convictions for offences ranging from the late 1990s to the late 2000s. His remarks were made against the backdrop of a Tory amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, which called for a national investigation into grooming gangs but was defeated on Wednesday evening.
The government has already stated that it will adopt the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA)’s recommendations, led by Professor Alexis Jay in 2022. Morton claims that a new public investigation would be pointless and a waste of money, arguing that “We’ve done the public inquiry.” Every investigation has been thoroughly re-examined and investigated. We’ve spent seven years with Prof Jay and her staff scrutinizing child sex exploitation and providing suggestions. Let’s get started. Don’t squander your money on further pointless inquiries.”
A child sexual abuse survivor who cannot be named agrees with Morton, stating that much of the debate has focused on whether there should be a public investigation rather than on what can be done to assist victims. She claims it is naive to believe grooming isn’t still being carried out and that the political discussion is not centered on the issue but on trying to outdo one another. “My life was ruined by this. People must focus on us and how to stop this, rather than on scoring points,” she told the BBC.
Meanwhile, Morton claims that abuse victims, including those who survived it, often do not trust anyone, including the police or social services. He claims that perpetrators have been pushed underground by recent exposure of abuse but that they are still active, and that fears and shame frequently cause victims to cover up for their abuser by declining to testify. “When we conducted this inquiry, we spoke with lots of girls, and there were even more suspects,” he stated. “We weren’t able to get all of the girls to speak with us and tell us their stories. We sent nine men to court, and just a few victims came to present evidence. It was much larger than that.”
Thames Valley Police responded to Morton’s allegations by saying that Operation Bullfinch provided them with information that resulted in “24 convictions with jail terms adding up over 250 years” for historical sexual abuse charges. Because of the investigation’s findings, the force says that it now has more police officers and detectives investigating child abuse issues, and a new specialist squad overseeing all missing persons cases, looking for patterns or underlying issues. The police department stated that it prioritizes the abuse of children and will continue to do so
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