:00:09. > :00:15.some parts of his programme The victims of grooming are young
:00:15. > :00:22.and often vulnerable, children taken advantage of by adults.
:00:22. > :00:30.would a 21-year-old want with a 12- year-old? I was 12. For some police
:00:30. > :00:33.forces, child protection is a priority. But in certain parts of
:00:33. > :00:40.the UK, sexual exploitation is a problem that goes largely
:00:40. > :00:45.unrecognised. It is happening in every part of the country, in every
:00:45. > :00:53.community. Much of the debate has focused on raising responsibility.
:00:53. > :01:01.If somebody is grooming under-aged girls for sex, that is wrong.
:01:01. > :01:04.why are these little girls out in the first place? For the parents of
:01:04. > :01:12.victims, discovering what has happened to their child can be
:01:12. > :01:22.devastating. The aftermath goes on and on and on. The victim and the
:01:22. > :01:34.
:01:34. > :01:41.Childhood is supposed to be an age of innocence, but not for everyone.
:01:41. > :01:51.Nobody knows why many children are sexually exploited in the UK. But
:01:51. > :01:52.
:01:52. > :01:59.it can have an effect for the rest of their life. If you get a raped
:01:59. > :02:04.the first time, you think, I am not going to go back. But then you do.
:02:04. > :02:09.You keep on going back to the same person because you feel afraid. You
:02:09. > :02:15.sometimes feel they are all you have got. This girl is now 19 but
:02:15. > :02:19.she was sexually exploited by men before she was a teenager. They
:02:19. > :02:23.take you to parties and give you drink and drugs. When you go to
:02:23. > :02:27.leave, you can't get out the door. They make you feel like they love
:02:27. > :02:31.you and care for you. The way they talk to you, but they know what
:02:31. > :02:34.they're saying. They're trying to get to you. Those involved in a
:02:34. > :02:39.grooming rely on making their victims feel a combination of fear
:02:39. > :02:49.and dependence. This centre was the first to help sexually exploited
:02:49. > :02:50.
:02:50. > :02:55.children. It is run by Barnardos. We have had children as young as 10
:02:55. > :03:04.who have taken risks by sending pictures. That was at the request
:03:04. > :03:11.of adults, abusers. We have worked with a 13-year-old who has been
:03:11. > :03:21.groomed and targeted by lots of adult men. She had been burnt by
:03:21. > :03:24.
:03:24. > :03:28.cigarettes. She had been kidnapped. She has had horrendous experiences.
:03:28. > :03:33.Groups of men? These have some organisation. Yes. It was several.
:03:33. > :03:39.We have no idea of the extent as to how organised it is. There are
:03:40. > :03:44.pockets of areas where there is organised abuse happening. There
:03:44. > :03:48.are pockets of Lancashire where grooming is a concern. Quite
:03:48. > :03:52.isolated. These steps lead to the other side of the canal. Officers
:03:52. > :04:02.from the Freedom Team work in Burnley and child protection is one
:04:02. > :04:03.
:04:03. > :04:07.of their priorities. Are you OK? You are not in trouble. It is
:04:07. > :04:14.starting to it get dark and in the park they find a 10-year-old girl
:04:14. > :04:17.walking alone. What time do you have to be home? She is still a
:04:17. > :04:27.primary-school child but this is the age that police started to
:04:27. > :04:28.
:04:28. > :04:32.worry about children putting themselves at risk. Be safe. A
:04:32. > :04:42.young 10-year-old girl in the park on her own, wearing make-up and she
:04:42. > :04:43.
:04:43. > :04:53.has a necklace on. She might be somebody we need to speak to. Will
:04:53. > :04:54.
:04:54. > :04:57.her mother know where she is? I doubt it.
:04:57. > :05:00.A couple of miles away, other police officers think they have
:05:00. > :05:06.spotted somebody currently on bail charged in connection with the
:05:06. > :05:12.sexual exploitation of young teenage girls. One of the bail
:05:12. > :05:20.conditions is that he stays away from this area. While they cannot
:05:20. > :05:24.find him, they do run into the man he was talking to. The one known to
:05:24. > :05:28.the police. He might say that he has not been in any trouble with
:05:28. > :05:34.the police but a check reveals a different information. RADIO:
:05:34. > :05:40.Previous - criminal damage and sexual assault. Sexual assault?
:05:40. > :05:44.is the victims of sexual offences who cannot forget the crimes. Jane
:05:44. > :05:51.is 15 but was only 12 when she found herself in a hotel room with
:05:51. > :05:55.a man almost one decade older. pulled something out of his pocket
:05:55. > :06:01.and I did not realise what they were at first. I looked once and
:06:01. > :06:06.then I took a second look full. He had a handful of condoms. He threw
:06:06. > :06:12.them at me and they were all over my legs. He said, you will need
:06:12. > :06:16.them more than I do. It got a bit weird and I was scared. Given that
:06:16. > :06:22.he was about 21 and you were 12 years old, what do you think
:06:22. > :06:29.looking back? It is just horrible. What would a 21-year-old want with
:06:29. > :06:36.a 12-year-old? I was 12. Thinking how stupid I was to put myself in
:06:36. > :06:40.that position, but you do not think when you are that young. You do not
:06:40. > :06:50.think about what could happen because you do not get told. I had
:06:50. > :07:00.
:07:00. > :07:04.Back in Burnley, the police suspect that some men facing charges in
:07:04. > :07:08.connection with a child sex offences have returned to the town.
:07:08. > :07:15.That would breach their bail conditions and put them back in the
:07:15. > :07:19.same area as the girls they are accused of abusing. The house that
:07:19. > :07:29.I believe is what I class as a safe house for housing criminals. It is
:07:29. > :07:31.
:07:31. > :07:34.a place they are using when they are in breach of bail. There is no
:07:35. > :07:41.sign of the men that they are looking for, despite searching at
:07:41. > :07:47.the front and the back. You'll probably find there are people
:07:47. > :07:53.ringing to let them know police are knocking. They will probably not
:07:53. > :08:03.answer the door now anyway. As they are getting ready to drive away, a
:08:03. > :08:03.
:08:03. > :08:07.car pulls up. It is the brother of one of the men that is on bail. The
:08:07. > :08:17.police chase after him, determined to send a message. We are looking
:08:17. > :08:18.
:08:18. > :08:22.for your brother. I was just checking. I know where he hides out.
:08:22. > :08:26.The best way of protecting children is by preventing the abuse. If
:08:26. > :08:35.police officers think a girll is starting to be groomed, they say
:08:35. > :08:38.they will step in. Section 2 is a brilliant tool that we use. It is a
:08:38. > :08:47.warning notice that allows us to show perpetrators how old a child
:08:47. > :08:51.is. The perpetrator that is shown a photograph of the child. When they
:08:51. > :08:58.reach the age of 16 they are under no illusion that if they are found
:08:58. > :09:00.with that child they could be arrested. They lose their defence.
:09:01. > :09:04.What's viewed as best practice in Lancashire is not followed
:09:04. > :09:14.everywhere else. A report showed that many agencies across the UK
:09:14. > :09:15.
:09:15. > :09:23.simply were not doing their jobs. The Local Safeguarding Children
:09:23. > :09:30.Board is pivotal. Police officers and children's services as well as
:09:30. > :09:33.health agencies are important. The assessment found that the majority
:09:33. > :09:36.of safeguarding children's boards have not followed the national
:09:36. > :09:41.guidance which in simple terms is to say you should assume this form
:09:41. > :09:45.of sexual exploitation is taking place until you know otherwise. The
:09:45. > :09:52.findings were that was not happening in the majority of the
:09:52. > :09:57.parts of the country. It is difficult to say what goes on in
:09:57. > :10:02.other forces. But I would say that until five years ago we did not
:10:02. > :10:11.know the scope of the problem. It has always been there. I think it
:10:11. > :10:17.is endemic across all society. It is around late night businesses
:10:17. > :10:22.that groomers look to meet girls, or in some cases, boys. The
:10:22. > :10:28.grooming is often a long and slow process. Some victims do not even
:10:28. > :10:31.realise they are being sexually exploited until it is too late.
:10:31. > :10:36.drive around at three o'clock in the morning and there are still
:10:36. > :10:40.people often walking up and down. Those are the people we are trying
:10:40. > :10:42.to get hold of. The Government is looking at an action plan to tackle
:10:42. > :10:46.the issue of grooming and the Children's Minister said local
:10:46. > :10:52.safeguarding boards in every part of the country need to be doing
:10:52. > :10:56.this kind of work. If it turns out that some
:10:56. > :11:02.authorities say, it is not happening, I would say, yes it is.
:11:02. > :11:08.Why are you not finding it? Just saying it is not a problem is not
:11:08. > :11:18.an excuse. Somebody is not doing their job properly. It is happening
:11:18. > :11:24.
:11:24. > :11:34.in every part of the country in This is one house where vulnerable
:11:34. > :11:38.
:11:38. > :11:41.girls have been discovered before. I only met him that night... Police
:11:41. > :11:46.officers from the Freedom Team work directly alongside a social worker
:11:46. > :11:56.and a sexual health nurse. It is a joint approach which teaches girls
:11:56. > :12:01.about basic safety. One of the girls, only 15, is that higher risk
:12:01. > :12:07.of exploitation. She went missing overnight and was found at this
:12:07. > :12:13.address. When she was found there the other night, another girl was
:12:13. > :12:17.missing. She was located as well. She was talking about the fact that
:12:17. > :12:25.some girls were going off with a 25-year-old. Yes. One girl was
:12:25. > :12:33.picked up by a 25-year-old male. That is a real worry. Yes. That is
:12:33. > :12:38.why we do regular checks on the places that we know of. It is a
:12:38. > :12:45.safe house. It is warm. There is a television, alcohol. It usually
:12:45. > :12:55.turns into a party house. We have to keep checking. So-called party
:12:55. > :12:58.houses are commonly used to groom children. Boys and girls are
:12:58. > :13:01.attracted by the prospect of drink and drugs but often end up abused.
:13:01. > :13:05.Sometimes it is even for prostitution. You are never on your
:13:05. > :13:09.own. There are always other girls there. I got taken up there by a
:13:09. > :13:18.friend. There were girls there. There were lads there. Some of them
:13:18. > :13:24.were at 15, 16, 17. Some were 25. Some were in their late 20s. At
:13:24. > :13:30.that point I did not think... There was beer, weed. These were men who
:13:30. > :13:35.had organised these parties, in their 20s. They organise these
:13:35. > :13:42.parties for the purpose of having sex with the girls. It is sick. I
:13:42. > :13:46.was really drunk. Finding out what happened afterwards at that night
:13:46. > :13:55.at their house, a young girl had been raped at the house that I was
:13:55. > :13:59.at. I thought, even then, that Jane was groomed by Asian men. That
:13:59. > :14:02.is not unique. The ringleaders of this gang were Pakistani. They were
:14:02. > :14:07.convicted of serious sexual offences after being pictured
:14:07. > :14:11.driving around Derby looking for girls. There are other concerns.
:14:11. > :14:17.Every person I know that has been groomed has been by Asian men. That
:14:17. > :14:21.is how it is where I live. Sexual exploitation does not just happen
:14:21. > :14:24.on streets or at parties. Figures suggest there are more white people
:14:24. > :14:34.involved in grooming. The percentage of Asian groomers is
:14:34. > :14:35.
:14:35. > :14:42.high. It could be individuals or gangs. There is a problem with the
:14:42. > :14:49.gang mentality. We need to work ers
:14:49. > :14:51.to make sure their communities are watching out for this. No-one
:14:51. > :14:55.denies there are individuals from within certain communities involved
:14:55. > :15:02.in the grooming of young girls and the headlines have been dominated
:15:02. > :15:06.by gangs led by British-Pakistani men. But there is a concern that
:15:06. > :15:11.the issue of race is starting to dominate how you deal with a wider
:15:11. > :15:15.and complex issue. In the north of the country, the gangs are
:15:15. > :15:21.predominantly Asian or Pakistani. It is right we address that issue
:15:21. > :15:28.because that has to be identified. But it is not fair to demonise or
:15:28. > :15:38.attack the whole community. In a recent conviction, six white people
:15:38. > :15:43.
:15:43. > :15:46.were convicted of grooming. They got short sentences. In Burnley,
:15:46. > :15:53.many said girls' families had to take some responsibility. Most
:15:53. > :15:59.victims are white. This is the way people are brought up. With Asian
:15:59. > :16:08.girls, they're at home. They have a sense of structure. But the white
:16:08. > :16:18.parents, they let them go out. That does not excuse grooming. I did not
:16:18. > :16:22.say it did. Nothing excuses it. white girls are being molested.
:16:22. > :16:31.Their parents do not put boundaries around them. We believe in
:16:31. > :16:35.freedom... This country has limits. It does not matter what their
:16:35. > :16:45.families are doing. If somebody is grooming under-aged girls for sex,
:16:45. > :16:46.
:16:46. > :16:52.that is wrong. No matter what the society says, that is wrong. I am
:16:52. > :17:02.not saying it is right.. These little girls, why are they out in
:17:02. > :17:02.
:17:02. > :17:06.the first place? But there are Asian girls among the victims. This
:17:06. > :17:13.one was groomed as a young teenager and insists it is a crime committed
:17:14. > :17:20.in practically all communities. Sheffield there have been African
:17:20. > :17:24.and Nigerian men around. It is way too focused on the subject of them
:17:24. > :17:28.being Asian. Basically they are human beings. They are men. They
:17:28. > :17:36.have done wrong. That is what you need to focus on, not their ethnic
:17:36. > :17:46.Could all of society be doing more to protect children from the adult
:17:46. > :17:49.In the high street you can see that some shops believe that sex sells,
:17:49. > :17:55.but there are parents concerned about what that is doing to their
:17:55. > :17:56.children. The Government has its worries as well. It commissioned an
:17:57. > :18:06.independent report into the commercialisation and sexualisation
:18:07. > :18:11.
:18:11. > :18:21.There are some families particularly worried about who
:18:21. > :18:26.
:18:27. > :18:31.their children see as their role I went to see Rianna in Liverpool.
:18:31. > :18:41.I was thinking, the girls are going to look at that and think it is
:18:41. > :18:45.
:18:45. > :18:51.normal. The Mother's Union was involved in the report into sexual
:18:51. > :18:57.exploitation. Some parents believe society is encouraging young people
:18:57. > :19:07.to grow up too quickly. We seem to be putting pressure on them to be
:19:07. > :19:10.sexual at a young age rather than being an actual child. There are
:19:10. > :19:16.bikinis with padded tops from the age of eight. You are projecting
:19:16. > :19:20.something on to a child that shouldn't be there. While there is
:19:20. > :19:23.focus on street grooming there are fears that the internet and mobile
:19:23. > :19:29.phones have made it easier for children to be sexually exploited
:19:30. > :19:34.in their own home. If they are on the internet, the door should be
:19:34. > :19:43.open. You should be able to go in at any time. I would not let mine
:19:43. > :19:46.have a web cam. It is fascinating how much this conversation is
:19:46. > :19:56.focused on girls and not boys. Whenever people talk about
:19:56. > :19:59.
:19:59. > :20:03.sexualisation, they talk about girls. We need to play catch up.
:20:03. > :20:11.There is a lot more going on that we do not know about. Some senior
:20:11. > :20:16.police officers agree with that. do not know the full extent of it.
:20:16. > :20:26.It is a hidden crime, particularly with boys. They are more likely to
:20:26. > :20:29.
:20:29. > :20:39.disclose to mates. Girls might boast about having friends with
:20:39. > :20:41.
:20:41. > :20:44.With both boys and girls, there are fears for the most vulnerable. One
:20:44. > :20:54.of the common reasons for children being taken into care is because
:20:54. > :21:01.
:21:01. > :21:04.they are seen as being at risk of A recent Barnardo's report suggests
:21:04. > :21:07.that almost two-thirds of girls in children's homes in Northern
:21:07. > :21:11.Ireland are at risk of grooming. They target homes because they
:21:12. > :21:15.think, they are going through a lot and if we try to get in with them
:21:15. > :21:25.and be nice to them and make them feel special, they will come with
:21:25. > :21:27.us. They make you think it is OK when they rape you. The truth is,
:21:28. > :21:32.children from all backgrounds can be taken advantage of, including
:21:32. > :21:40.those from loving, stable families. This man's daughter was abused and
:21:40. > :21:44.forced into prostitution by a criminal gang. It is about money.
:21:44. > :21:51.It is more about money and criminality than it is about sex.
:21:51. > :21:57.Certainly about power. The power that a group of men have over an
:21:57. > :22:00.apparently willing victim. They do not see the abuse as abuse because
:22:00. > :22:06.they are convinced in their own mind that the person is their
:22:06. > :22:10.boyfriend and it is somehow a relationship. Some of the gang were
:22:10. > :22:17.prosecuted and convicted. Going to court was a difficult experience
:22:17. > :22:21.for the whole family. It sometimes feels as though the cost of that
:22:21. > :22:31.was too great. It was too great a price to pay. The aftermath goes on
:22:31. > :22:37.
:22:37. > :22:40.and on and on. The victim and the There have been some high-profile
:22:40. > :22:49.trials that have collapsed and other cases that have never made it
:22:49. > :22:59.to court. They are often rely on the evidence of the victims. The
:22:59. > :23:00.
:23:00. > :23:04.truth is for some of them going to court simply is not worth it.
:23:04. > :23:07.have to sit through court and hear about the violence and the sexual
:23:07. > :23:15.abuse that would take place from a whole lot of different men while
:23:15. > :23:20.your child may have been drunk is just terrible. One support group
:23:20. > :23:27.works with the victims. We have had families where we thought there was
:23:27. > :23:31.watertight evidence. But the judge accepted the claim that the men
:23:31. > :23:36.thought the girls were over 16. They were actually 12 and 14.
:23:36. > :23:40.judge agreed that they looked older and the case was dismissed.
:23:40. > :23:44.Government shares concerns about the way courts deal with this crime.
:23:44. > :23:46.The high-profile cases we have seen, you have had eight or nine
:23:46. > :23:52.barristers defending eight or nine defendants, interrogating a teenage
:23:52. > :24:02.girl and forcing her relive all of her experiences. It is very
:24:02. > :24:03.
:24:03. > :24:10.traumatising. We expect them to go through the mill a second time in
:24:10. > :24:13.the court process. We are trying to work with the legal processes and
:24:13. > :24:23.the Attorney General has been part of the working group who have
:24:23. > :24:31.
:24:31. > :24:35.helped us on these to see if we can make court cases simpler. That's
:24:35. > :24:39.all well to say, but the reality is court processes are set. There is
:24:39. > :24:41.little you can do. We need to change the courts. The courts are
:24:42. > :24:51.there to get perpetrators, not to intimidate victims. Young people
:24:52. > :24:53.
:24:53. > :24:57.will always want to act like adults. Hang on a minute. Police. It's 10pm
:24:57. > :25:07.when the police catch up with the 15-year-old girl, they find she has
:25:07. > :25:10.
:25:10. > :25:14.been drinking. What people need to realise is that predatory groomers,
:25:14. > :25:24.criminals who exploit children for sex, are very skilled at what they
:25:24. > :25:29.
:25:29. > :25:38.do. They are the experts. They are the ones who know how to drive a
:25:38. > :25:42.wedge between children and their Those involved in abuse rely on