East Lancashire's specialist 'Engage' team winning war on gang groomers

The number of 12 to 16-year-old girl targeted for 'grooming' by groups of perverts, mainly older Asian males. when it was set up in 2006 was at least 100.

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In the three months from August 1 to October 31 this year, just a dozen young women were highlighted as at ' imminent risk of child sex abuse on our streets.

Of 131 suspected sexual offences across East Lancashire against under-16s between April 1 2013 and March 31 2014, just five were suspected 'sexual grooming'.

Campaigning MP Ann Coffey believe the ground-breaking Engage Team set up in East Lancashire after the Lancashire Telegraph’s 2006 ‘Keep Them Safe’ campaign is the key to this success.

Ms Coffey, said: "I am sure that the Engage team and the Lancashire Telegraph ‘Keep Them Safe’ campaign which led to its formation, are very much responsible for this. I have visited it and is an excellent partnership and the template for similar initiatives nationwide.”

DS Mark Whelan, who runs the Engage team added: "Individual and gang groomers now know in East Lancashire their chances of being caught are high."

The reduction of young people at risk of exploitation follows a sharp rise in the number of prosecutions and convictions of adults for sexually abusing young people over six years.

The 80 per cent conviction rate is among the best in the country.

North-West Crown prosecution boss Nazir Afzal believes the partnership bringing together police, social workers, medical and health professionals, charities and young people themselves explains why Blackburn and Burnley have avoided the ‘gang’ grooming horrors afflicting Rochdale and Rotherham.

Mr Afzal and Ms Coffey spoke as Lancashire Constabulary, launched a dedicated Child Sexual Exploitation awareness week including a major conference at the Mercure Dunkenhalgh Hotel today.

DS Mark Whelan has been with Engage since its launch covering Blackburn with Darwen, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley.

He said 500 child abusers had been successfully prosecuted from its work resulting in prison terms totalling more than 700 years.

In 2013/2014 the county police received 1,248 referrals of potential sexual abuse of under 16s of which 444 were logged as crimes.

They included 601 referrals in East Lancashire of which 131 were logged as potential crimes but only five (out of 16 county-wide) were flagged as 'sexual grooming' and seven of the suspected perpetrators identified as Asian/black compared to 61 as white Northern European.

A total of 247 prosecutions for offences in Lancashire took place over the 12 months with 198 (80.2 per cent ) resulting in convictions, above the national average of 76.5 per cent.

In 2008/2009 there were 201 prosecutions in Lancashire with an 80.1 per cent conviction rate (161 cases).

Ms Coffey , who wrote last month’s report revealing that out of 13,000 reported cases of sex offences against under 16s in Greater Manchester over six years just 1,000 were prosecuted, is impressed with Lancashire's figures.

The former social worker said: “The level of intelligence received by the police, the number of cases taken forward, the number of prosecutions and the conviction rate are very good, above the national average."

DS Whelan added that since the original 100 potential victims had been identified in 2006, awareness of the problem and effectiveness in tackling it with partners had increased greatly.

He revealed in the three months to October 31 there were 166 referrals to an expanded Engage team , which now includes Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale, of which 12 young women were being monitored and supported as 'high risk'.

DS Whelan said: "The campaign to tackle child sexual exploitation will never be over.

"However, we have made real progress in uncovering the scale of a problem of which people were unaware in 2006, raising awareness, working with partners, supporting vulnerable young people and identifying, disrupting, arresting, prosecuting, convicting and imprisoning the criminal predators responsible."

Mr Afzal, Crown Prosecution Service national lead on the issue, said: “It is important to raise awareness of child sexual exploitation and these young people are the victims of adult predators.

“It is everyone’s responsibility – police, prosecutors, teachers, social workers, parents, members of the public and young people themselves.

“People must not simply ‘walk on by’.

"The Lancashire Telegraph campaign and the response in the creation of the Engage Team is a good example of refusing to not ‘walk on by’.

“I think it has contributed to East Lancashire so far avoiding a gang-grooming issue like Rochdale where opportunities were missed.”

Father-of-four Mr Afzal, 52, said that 90 per cent of child sex abusers are white and male and that family, on-line and institutional abuse still made up most of his case load.

He said Engage changed attitudes: “Prosecutors and police used to regard young people with chaotic lifestyles as a problem for taking cases to court.

“We now regard this as an indicator these young people are vulnerable. They have a need for love, affection, and friendship.

“Predators see this and exploit it. They numb them with alcohol and drugs. They tell them they will never be believed."

DI Paul Barlow, head of the newly-enlarged Engage Team said: "I think the work of the Engage team has made clear there is zero-tolerance to street and gang grooming in East Lancashire and so far has helped us avoid a Rochdale or a Rotherham.

"The Lancashire Telegraph 'Keep Them Safe' campaign was instrumental in Engage's creation and enable us to tackle this type of child sexual exploitation effectively."

Blackburn MP Jack Straw said: “I am confident the Lancashire Telegraph ‘Keep Them Safe’ campaign and Engage raised awareness of the gang-grooming problem and have helped protect children in East Lancashire and nationally.”

• If you’re concerned about a child, please contact the Engage team on  01254 353651 for advice. Alternatively, ring Lancashire Police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Information and resources for parents, carers and teachers is available on Lancashire Police’s website for young people, Trust Ed (www.trusted2know.co.uk).