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Action to tackle sexual predators

6:23pm Wednesday 12th March 2008

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By Charlotte Bradshaw »

ALMOST 400 young girls and boys have been reported missing in Blackburn, Darwen, Hyndburn and the Ribble Valley in the past six months.

Although it is impossible to say just how many are victims of child exploitation, Detective Sergeant Mark Wheelan, of Engage, said each one was "potentially being exploited".

Nearly 200 delegates from bodies including Lancashire Police, Blackburn with Darwen Council, the Blackburn branch young people's advisory group, Brook, Lancashire Safeguarding Children Board and alcohol charity Lifeline took part in the conference yesterday aimed at highlighting the issue.

The organisations have joined forces to form Engage, based at Connexions, Duke Street. It will succeed the police-led campaign, Operation Engage.

The conference was partly prompted by the Lancashire Telegraph's Keep Them Safe Campaign, which is aimed at tackling the growing number of men who are targeting girls for sex.

The conference heard how the team, comprising two police officers, a drugs worker, sexual health adv-iser and two social work-ers, will pool their skills to track down offenders who groom teenagers for sex, and offer support and protection to young victims and their families.

The team is helping 20 girls and has benefited from an extra £250,000 investment by the agencies involved, which is being used to create new posts.

Talks and presentations were staged yesterday to highlight the work done to tackle the problem.

Launching Engage, Gladys Rhodes, director of children's services for Blackburn with Darwen Council, praised the campaign as a "positive" opportunity to raise aware-ness. She said: "We are really grateful to the Telegraph for highlighting the issue and reporting it in a sensitive way.

"We need to continue to work together to keep it in the public eye."

Laurence Loft, chair of LSCB, said it was imp-ortant organisations shared information so people did not work in isolation.

The problem of sexual grooming was first high-lighted by the Telegraph in 2006 when the Keep Them Safe Campaign launched.

We revealed how girls, who repeatedly went miss-ing from home or care, were showered with gifts and attention and given drink and drugs before being forced to perform sex acts in return - sometimes with more than 10 men a night.

The government has now commissioned a national inquiry into the extent of the problem.

The team has a dedicated phone line, 01254 267790, where victims can call for support and advice.

Police in Pennine Division, which covers Burn-ley, Pendle and Rossendale have set up a similar operation called Freedom.

Your Say YourTelegraph

abbs, blackburn says...
8:40pm Fri 14 Mar 08

Pete Long wrote:
abbie wrote: im a mother of 3 and my middle daughter was groomed by gangs of asian men,so why as the dvd which has been made show an asian man,and from my experience its mostly asian men who are grooming innocent victims in lancashire,i have lost my daughter because of them,they brainwash these kids,they also get gang raped and they make them commit crime,and these perves should be punished the same as what paedofiles get ,as they are commitng a serious crimes against innocent victims and wrecking there lives and the families also,they also groom asian girls and polish girls also and also there are different race involved,but in my daughters case asian men do this the most
So why aren\'t you shouting from the rooftops and putting videos on YouTube about it ? Do you REALLY think you will get anywhere writing comments here or asking the police and social services for help ? Don\'t tell me the penny hasn\'t dropped that it\'s all being swept under the carpet as a \'local issue\' ?
i have made it noticed ive been to all the papers and done radio and tv why do you think people now know about it and it has been swept under the carpet by the local authorities

P Long, Blackburn says...
12:55pm Thu 13 Mar 08

Bobby Ali wrote:
we need to also think about activities of british men going to 3rd world countries for 'legal' activity with under age females. Usuallly very poor and have no access to basic human requirments and needs. this a Global Problem.
Nice attempt to distract from the main issue Mr ALI

P Long, Blackburn says...
12:53pm Thu 13 Mar 08

Bob wrote:
So many children going missing can only go unnoticed by the public if the police and media refuse to give coverage to such a story. Nobody should care about causing offense to people when childrens welfare is at stake.
Try the words 'community cohesion' on for size

Pete Long, Blackburn says...
12:51pm Thu 13 Mar 08

abbie wrote:
im a mother of 3 and my middle daughter was groomed by gangs of asian men,so why as the dvd which has been made show an asian man,and from my experience its mostly asian men who are grooming innocent victims in lancashire,i have lost my daughter because of them,they brainwash these kids,they also get gang raped and they make them commit crime,and these perves should be punished the same as what paedofiles get ,as they are commitng a serious crimes against innocent victims and wrecking there lives and the families also,they also groom asian girls and polish girls also and also there are different race involved,but in my daughters case asian men do this the most
So why aren't you shouting from the rooftops and putting videos on YouTube about it ?

Do you REALLY think you will get anywhere writing comments here or asking the police and social services for help ?

Don't tell me the penny hasn't dropped that it's all being swept under the carpet as a 'local issue' ?

king, burnley says...
10:57am Thu 13 Mar 08

Y does a social problem come down to race? If you go round the world killing innocent women and children then dont expect things to stay normal hear! As the saying goes "you reap what you sow"

revenge, Blackburn says...
9:08am Thu 13 Mar 08

Castration
Hanging
Electric chair

Problem solved. The problem with this overly politically correct country is that the perpetrator has all the human rights yet these innnocent victims are left afraid, vulnerable and depressed. I have 4 young daughters and i really fear for them as they grow in this volatile world. I make no bones about my feelings on different races and cultures. I am English, my children are English and they know that they are not allowed to associate with people of other races! Some people on here might find this racist but quite frankly i don't care what they think. I would KILL for my children and i am prepared to DIE for my children! As other races have different beliefs on sex, marriage and obviously think having sex with young girls is ok, i am perfectly entitled to bring my children up how i feel is the best for them! This is segregation! The law has shown us repeatedly that we can not rely on them and therefore the only way to sort this is to keep them seperate and give out our own punishments. This comment will likely be removed as no doubt some sad little paedophile will want to have his sad little day enlightened and has nothing better to do than scour message boards as its now school time so has a few hours before he can become predator again. I am not saying either that it is only asian men that do this as we all know this is not the case but as a society white, english people accept this behaviour is intolerable and castration should follow. In the asian community, this is rife and is quite often covered up to prevent embarrassment to the religious leaders! We would all have more respect for your religion if you actually came out and targeted those in your communities that commit this horrendous crimes against our children rather than hiding behind your holy book!

Bob, Blackburn says...
10:50pm Wed 12 Mar 08

So many children going missing can only go unnoticed by the public if the police and media refuse to give coverage to such a story. Nobody should care about causing offense to people when childrens welfare is at stake.

Bobby Ali, manchester says...
10:11pm Wed 12 Mar 08

we need to also think about activities of british men going to 3rd world countries for 'legal' activity with under age females. Usuallly very poor and have no access to basic human requirments and needs.
this a Global Problem.

RHME, Burnley says...
9:09pm Wed 12 Mar 08

IF, thats the case 400 missing children in the last 6-months Its well past the time, That the Government and its People of this COUNTRY Woke Up

bob, blackburn says...
8:29pm Wed 12 Mar 08

these dirty **** want there bits cutting off

abbie, blackburn says...
8:27pm Wed 12 Mar 08

abbie wrote:
im a mother of 3 and my middle daughter was groomed by gangs of asian men,so why as the dvd which has been made show an asian man,and from my experience its mostly asian men who are grooming innocent victims in lancashire,i have lost my daughter because of them,they brainwash these kids,they also get gang raped and they make them commit crime,and these perves should be punished the same as what paedofiles get ,as they are commitng a serious crimes against innocent victims and wrecking there lives and the families also,they also groom asian girls and polish girls also and also there are different race involved,but in my daughters case asian men do this the most
its abbie here again i just wanted to correct the last comment i made i meant to put why does it show on the dvd a white male when it is mostly asian men that are involved

abbie, blackburn says...
7:07pm Wed 12 Mar 08

im a mother of 3 and my middle daughter was groomed by gangs of asian men,so why as the dvd which has been made show an asian man,and from my experience its mostly asian men who are grooming innocent victims in lancashire,i have lost my daughter because of them,they brainwash these kids,they also get gang raped and they make them commit crime,and these perves should be punished the same as what paedofiles get ,as they are commitng a serious crimes against innocent victims and wrecking there lives and the families also,they also groom asian girls and polish girls also and also there are different race involved,but in my daughters case asian men do this the most

EX-PAT, THANKFULLY NO LONGER IN BLIGHTY says...
7:06pm Wed 12 Mar 08

ALMOST 400 young girls and boys have been reported missing in Blackburn, Darwen, Hyndburn and the Ribble Valley in the past six months.


JESUS! What the hell is happening with society and the bloody system. Why oh why if the reports are true have the police, social services and other wasteful resources allowed this to happen... Does this mean our kids are no longer safe, should we leash them to our wrists and watch over them 24/7 and stop they're freedom etc because the powers that be aren't able to handle it themselves... Its bloody disgraceful.... Thank the lord I no longer live in this god forsaken country I used to call home... and it further cements my feelings that the country has gone to the dogs ... I for one won't be on the plane home with MY family as I see NO future for Blighty... GOD HELP YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!

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MESSAGE: Brook worker Vicky Quirk, left, and Brook chief executive Julie Wareing with Jemma Laing and Kayleigh Bell, stars of the But I thought he loved me' DVD, which was shown at the conference MESSAGE: Brook worker Vicky Quirk, left, and Brook chief executive Julie Wareing with Jemma Laing and Kayleigh Bell, stars of the But I thought he loved me' DVD, which was shown at the conference

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