:00:00. > :00:00.Good evening and welcome to the late Look North.
:00:00. > :00:00.Tonight: She had a baby when she was just 15 -
:00:07. > :00:09.the Yorkshire woman going public about being groomed by an older man.
:00:10. > :00:11.And missing out on child maintenance payments -
:00:12. > :00:19.the single parents who are owed thousands of pounds.
:00:20. > :00:25.And winter returns this week with cold conditions and the potential
:00:26. > :00:30.for snort as well. I will have the details later in the programme.
:00:31. > :00:53.He's one of the men who groomed 1,400 girls in Rotherham.
:00:54. > :01:01.Like all girls abused, Sammy has a right to anonymity.
:01:02. > :01:04.For years she called herself Jessica when she spoke to the press.
:01:05. > :01:07.But now, in an exclusive interview with our Inside Out programme,
:01:08. > :01:09.she's decided to reveal her true identity and to talk
:01:10. > :01:16.I remember sitting in the car and he stroked my
:01:17. > :01:19.He said, you're not really 16, are you?
:01:20. > :01:31.And it was almost like he'd put a spell on me.
:01:32. > :01:32.Within a few days my parents found out.
:01:33. > :01:34.They weren't happy at all and they contacted
:01:35. > :01:41.The police said because I was consenting to it that there was
:01:42. > :01:43.nothing that they could do unless I made a statement.
:01:44. > :01:46.So even though you were a child and he was a
:01:47. > :01:48.24-year-old man the police said, we can't do anything
:01:49. > :01:53.Yes, and as well, he was extremely well-known to the
:01:54. > :01:57.He was involved in just about every crime you can imagine.
:01:58. > :02:00.I wasn't the first or the last child that he was abusing.
:02:01. > :02:02.There was times when I was having fun.
:02:03. > :02:16.It was very much a case of a normal, healthy
:02:17. > :02:23.It was a few months into that when he
:02:24. > :02:27.started becoming very controlling, very possessive.
:02:28. > :02:30.He started hitting me on a daily basis.
:02:31. > :02:33.Ash is now doing time for what he did to you and to
:02:34. > :02:42.It depends what frame of mind I'm in on that day.
:02:43. > :02:44.There's times when I still feel angry at
:02:45. > :02:54.And then there's times when I think a part of me will always love
:02:55. > :02:58.Of the amount of men that you know were
:02:59. > :03:01.involved in child sexual exploitation in Rotherham, how many
:03:02. > :03:02.have been locked up for what they did?
:03:03. > :03:08.We have seen perpetrators held accountable.
:03:09. > :03:10.And that is good for us because we can
:03:11. > :03:12.move forward now we are getting that justice.
:03:13. > :03:17.But I don't think any of us will be able to move
:03:18. > :03:20.forward, or move forward as a town, until those professionals start and
:03:21. > :03:26.What is the situation in Rotherham at the moment?
:03:27. > :03:36.It's about reducing it, making it hard for paedophiles, and putting
:03:37. > :03:40.But, yes, they will always continue to hurt
:03:41. > :03:48.How do you feel today as Sammy, not as Jessica anymore?
:03:49. > :03:53.I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders.
:03:54. > :03:56.I'm looking forward to moving forward with my life.
:03:57. > :03:58.I think there's a lot of positive things to
:03:59. > :04:06.come for me and for the rest of the girls.
:04:07. > :04:26.Sammy said that is still happening in Rotherham
:04:27. > :04:28.and not many people have been convicted for what happened.
:04:29. > :04:35.But to date, despite hundreds of allegations about police failings,
:04:36. > :04:37.no police officer has been disciplined as yet, although
:04:38. > :04:39.The Independent Police Complaints Commission is now looking
:04:40. > :04:42.She also said that professionals, by which she means police
:04:43. > :04:52.and councillors, should be held accountable.
:04:53. > :04:54.The report published in February 2015 labelled Rotherham council
:04:55. > :04:56.not fit for purpose, the Government sent
:04:57. > :04:58.in a team of commissioners to run the authority.
:04:59. > :05:00.In the wake of the scandal there were high-profile
:05:01. > :05:05.the leader of the council, the chief executive,
:05:06. > :05:12.the Police and Crime Commissioner, who was also head of Children's
:05:13. > :05:14.Services in Rotherham between 2005 and 2010,
:05:15. > :05:19.Services left by mutual consent, but no charges or
:05:20. > :05:30.As far the police are concerned the IPCC says it has identified
:05:31. > :05:33.significant police failings and is now investigating those.
:05:34. > :05:36.It said it is the biggest investigation since Hillsborough
:05:37. > :05:41.and is looking towards a conclusion by the end of this year.
:05:42. > :05:44.Hundreds of thousands of single parents are missing out on child
:05:45. > :05:48.maintenance when an absent parent refuses to pay.
:05:49. > :05:50.An investigation by the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme
:05:51. > :05:53.reveals that more than a million parents in the UK have
:05:54. > :06:01.failed to contribute to the upbringing of their children,
:06:02. > :06:09.Nicola Rees has one mum's story from Sheffield.
:06:10. > :06:14.His dad has been assessed by the Child Support Agency
:06:15. > :06:22.He has bought him a couple of books and ?50 at the beginning, in 2009,
:06:23. > :06:25.but we are now in 2017 and the total amount that he owes
:06:26. > :06:30.What was it like for you, particularly early on,
:06:31. > :06:38.To do fun things I would take him to the park.
:06:39. > :06:44.We'd have the same picnic every day, take a book.
:06:45. > :06:49.I did my best but I would have liked to have done more.
:06:50. > :06:52.When couples split up, they are both still expected
:06:53. > :06:59.to contribute to the cost of bringing up their children
:07:00. > :07:02.but almost 1.2 million parents in the UK have failed to pay a total
:07:03. > :07:07.of ?3.8 billion in child maintenance.
:07:08. > :07:10.The Child Support Agency was set up to help families in 1993,
:07:11. > :07:12.but it has been dogged with problems.
:07:13. > :07:15.Computer systems didn't work properly and parents who didn't pay
:07:16. > :07:23.They shouldn't just be able to walk away and say it's history
:07:24. > :07:26.when it is due to their errors and their poor practice that money
:07:27. > :07:33.That is wrong and the Government should pay for that.
:07:34. > :07:37.Over 23 years, a multi-billion pound arrears debt has accumulated.
:07:38. > :07:41.It is money that should have been available for children.
:07:42. > :07:42.Laura's former partner is Gary, a children's
:07:43. > :07:53.We asked him why he has not paid maintenance,
:07:54. > :08:06.In a statement, the Government said...
:08:07. > :08:12.In 2012, the Child Maintenance Service replaced the CSA.
:08:13. > :08:15.With new IT systems it was supposed to solve the arrears problem but it
:08:16. > :08:19.has already clocked up ?93 million in maintenance debt.
:08:20. > :08:24.I don't understand how a father can get away with not paying it.
:08:25. > :08:27.How can he sleep at night when it's his child
:08:28. > :08:32.I don't know how he sleeps, I really don't.
:08:33. > :08:35.Laura Riley ending that report by Nicola Rees.
:08:36. > :08:38.In other news, a trainee soldier from Halifax has been jailed for six
:08:39. > :08:45.Private James Farrell - who's 18 - aimed a knife at another
:08:46. > :08:47.soldier's head at Catterick Garrison in North Yorkshire after
:08:48. > :08:51.Prosecutors said the other soldier had to roll out of the way
:08:52. > :08:57.There are claims that drink-drivers could be escaping justice
:08:58. > :09:00.because of the closure of police cells.
:09:01. > :09:05.An investigation by the Yorkshire Post newspaper found
:09:06. > :09:08.that the closure of cells in Northallerton means suspects can
:09:09. > :09:10.take two hours to get to Harrogate police station for a definitive
:09:11. > :09:22.blood test - and by that time they may be under the limit.
:09:23. > :09:35.On. Here is the weather. The potential for some snow.
:09:36. > :09:42.Tomorrow it will be noticeably cooler. Some showers could be heavy.
:09:43. > :09:49.There could be the odd rumble of thunder. Tomorrow evening this area
:09:50. > :09:57.of low pressure pushes in Andrea Raggi concerns that may produce an
:09:58. > :10:06.area of snow. We need to see how this are mass behaves itself.
:10:07. > :10:14.Overnight clear spells. There could be a couple of centimetres of snow
:10:15. > :10:18.along the Pennines. Frost expected. Temperatures dropping back to
:10:19. > :10:24.prison. The risk of some icy stretches until tomorrow morning.
:10:25. > :10:30.Tomorrow there will be a continuation of the showers.
:10:31. > :10:34.Sunshine and between the showers. Any of them could be heavy with the
:10:35. > :10:41.odd rumble of thunder. Noticeably cooler. We are concerned about
:10:42. > :10:54.choosing I can to Wednesday. Keep tuned to the forecast. Western
:10:55. > :10:56.state, wet and windy. Things settling down on Friday. Saturday
:10:57. > :11:03.looks nice also. outlook for Saturday and Sunday is
:11:04. > :11:12.for something dry and settled, sunny spells but a bit on the cool side.
:11:13. > :11:19.This week we are starting off with a taste of winter. This is Paul and
:11:20. > :11:24.maritime air, it has come from a long way north and will push in lots
:11:25. > :11:28.of showers. The last of any mild air gets swept away with the cloud.
:11:29. > :11:36.Tonight we have showers mostly across the northern half of the UK,
:11:37. > :11:39.which will turn wintry and that means more snow, particularly across
:11:40. > :11:47.Scotland and Northern Ireland, perhaps northern England. With those
:11:48. > :11:48.temperatures it is not just snow that is a concern, it is icy