Following the news today that over 1400 children have been abused, with some raped while under the care of Rotherham Borough Council, it is worth remembering the testimony of ‘Jessica’, whose identity was hidden in an interview with the BBC at the end of last year.
Jessica told the BBC Radio 5’s Victoria Derbyshire programme about her relationship with one child groomer, whose identity has also been masked as ‘Ali’:
“There were well aware of what was happening. They could have stopped it… there was enough evidence to arrest and charge him… the people that did know need to hang their heads in shame…
“…so many lives have been destroyed and nothing was stopped and no one cared about it. I still don’t actually think they care. I think the only reason why any investigation would start is because of the newspapers. I spoke to the police back in March and told them I was thinking about making a statement. They weren’t supportive at all…
“I think it is 14 years too late. All this should have been done back then and if they would have then a lot more girls wouldn’t have been groomed. I know there’s so many and they’ve allowed other girls to continue getting hurt. I don’t think they’ll ever admit fault… they firstly need to admit they were at fault and they could have done something… I just think the damage has been done”.
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