There was “a collective failure” to address questions over the ethnicity of gangs who groomed and sexual exploitated thousands of young and vulnerable girls, a damning report has found.
The findings from Dame Louise Casey’s “rapid” three month audit into the scale child sexual exploitation in England and Wales has been desribed as “damning” by the Home Secretary Yvette Cooper as she formally announced a full national inquiry.
Addressing MPs in the commons on Monday, Cooper offered an “unequivocal apology for the unimaginable pain and suffering”, of the victims and survivors.
Baroness Casey’s review into child sex abuse by grooming gangs found suspects were often “disproportionately likely” to be Asian men, the Home Secretary has said.
The national audit looking at the scale of grooming gangs across the country was first announced in January as part of a series of measures to tackle the issue. Baroness Casey’s findings prompted the prime minister to implement a full probe after months of resistance.
Baroness Casey makes 12 recommendations to the government including widening the legal definition of rape to cover more instances of sexual exploitation, improving data collection and sharing among protection agencies and launching a nationally coordinated criminal investigation.
The government has said they will implement them all.
“We must right the wrongs of the past,” Baroness Casey wrote
“Instead of examination, we have seen obfuscation.
“It’s time that we drew a line in the sand and took definitive action.”
Cooper described the decades of offences as a “stain on our society” as she promised government action.
“We are talking about multiple sexual assaults committed against children by multiple men on multiple occasions; beatings and gang rapes. Girls having to have abortions, contracting sexually transmitted infections, having children removed from them at birth,” Baroness Casey wrote.
She adds: “We should expect more of our own public institutions than that they should have to be dragged kicking and screaming by the media, victims and campaigners to carry out their own reviews or inquiries into what happened.”
Echoing Baroness Casey’s calls for long overdue action, Cooper promised: “More police investigations, more arrests, a new inquiry, changes to the law to protect children and a fundamental overhaul of the way organisations work to support victims.”
Among the changes, Cooper announced the police will launch a new national criminal operation into grooming gangs overseen by the National Crime Agency.
Baroness Casey’s report found the ethnicity of abusers is often “shied away from and is still not recorded for two-thirds of perpetrators.”
Cooper told MPs she would make it “a formal requirement for the first time to collect both ethnicity and nationality data for all cases.”
Among Baroness Casey’s findings, she suggested evidence of some cases of child sexual abuse involving asylum seekers – Cooper said she will change the law to prevent all such refugee claims.
“Those who groom children or who commit sexual offences will not be granted asylum in the UK,” the Home Secretary said.
Concluding her statement, Cooper said: “Victims and survivors need action.
“The reforms I’ve set out today will mean the strongest action any government has taken to tackle child sexual exploitation.”
The government has received criticism for its initial refusal to implement a national inquiry.
Speaking from the G7 summit in Canada, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said from the position he was in 15 years ago as director of public prosecutions to the position he’s in now, “my focus is on the victims of this vile offence.”
Responding in the commons, the Leader of the Opposition Kemi Badenoch said she “couldn’t believe [her] ears,” accusing the home secretary of being “dragged” to Monday’s announcement.
“This is not a victory for politicians,” she said. “This is a victory for the survivors who have been calling for this for years.”
Casey’s report claims around 500,000 children a year are likely to experience sexual abuse.
Police data shows just 100,000 offences of child sexual abuse and exploitation were recorded in 2024.
Of these contact offences, an estimated 17,100 are ‘flagged’ by police as child sexual exploitation.
Her “rapid national audit” is the latest report into child grooming gangs, a scandal that dates back decades. So how did we get to here?
The grooming gang scandal: A timeline
In 2010 five men were given jail sentences after being found guilty of grooming teenage girls in Rotherham for sex. That same year a series of arrests were made in Rochdale for offences dating back several years.
In 2012 the Times Newspaper claimed restricted-access documents proved police and child protection agencies in Rotherham knew about these offences for a decade, but did not seek prosecution. That same year nine men were convicted over a grooming scandal in Rochdale.
Professor Alexis Jay published her report in 2014 exploring child sexual exploitation in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013. She found during this period 1,400 children were sexually exploited by groups of mostly Asian males in Rotheram. Alexis Jay claimed police and council officials had a culture of treating victims as “troublesome” teenagers, ignoring the scale of abuse cases.
In 2015 a seperate report concludes the “association” of “group-based child sexual exploitation, with mainly Pakistani heritage is undeniable,” though added it found “no evidence… of any agency not acting when they should have done because of racial sensitivities”.
In 2018, Leeds Crown Court gives jail sentences to another gang of men, mainly of Pakistani heritage, for the sexual abuse of mainly white girls. During this same trial process right-wing commentator Tommy Robinson is sentenced to jail for contempt of court after livestreaming outside court despite reporting restrictions protecting the identity of several defendants.
In 2023 Rishi Sunak launchs the Grooming Gangs Taskforce, bringing in specialist officers to assist police forces in sexual exploitation investigations. By May 2024, around 550 suspects had been arrested.
Calls for a national inquiry picked up by Elon Musk
In 2022, the Conservative government denied Oldham councilors’ calls for a national inquiry, shifting the responsibility to local authorities.
Oldham councilors requested the same thing in January 2025 under the new government, but Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips denied this request in favour of a locally handled review.
The issue largely resurfaced in British politics when Tesla CEO Elon Musk, began regularly posting about UK grooming gangs on his social media platform, X.
Writing at the end of 2024, Musk said: “The government officials responsible, including those in the judiciary, need to [be] fired in shame over this,” as he referenced the scandals.
The billionaire expressed sympathy for British figures on the right like Tommy Robinson and directly called out Keir Starmer for failing to act when he held the position of director of public prosecutions, something he vehemently denied.
“Starmer was complicit in the RAPE OF BRITAIN when he was head of Crown Prosecution for 6 years,” Musk wrote.
“Starmer must go and he must face charges for his complicity in the worst mass crime in the history of Britain.”
Musk also used his platform to directly call out Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips over her refusal to grant a national inquiry.
The public attacks escalated with Musk calling Phillips a “rape genocide apologist” and an “evil witch,” and Phillips telling ITV News the attacks had “turned [her] world upside down.”
The vote
In January the Conservatives attempted to force the government into launching a national inquiry by tabling an amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill.
The amendment, though unlikely to pass, risked killing legislation Labour said was an important part of protecting vulnerable children and safeguarding those being home schooled.
Speaking at the time, Keir Starmer accused Conservatives of “jumping on the bandwagon” and “amplifying the far right,” having failed to act on recommendations when they were in power.
Labour whipped their MPs to vote this down and won by a margin of over 200.
Casey Audit
Following the amendment’s defeat Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced the government would fund a number of local inquiries into grooming gangs, and order police forces to reopen some historic grooming cases.
Speaking at the time, Yvetter Cooper said £10m of extra government funding would be spit between these local inquiries and a “rapid” three month audit into the issue conducted by Dame Louise Casey.
Elon Musk responded to this announcement online, writing: “I hope this is a proper investigation,” adding: “This is a step in the right direction.”
It is this review that concludes with the release of its findings today and follows the prime minister’s announcement of a national inquiry as a result of her findings and 12 recommendations.
Follow STV News on WhatsApp
Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
