Telford child sex abuse: what is exploitation scandal, how long did it go on for, and what did inquiry find?

More than 1,000 vulnerable children were sexually exploited over 30 years in Telford, an inquiry has concluded.

Police and council failings are being blamed for the shocking outcome, which saw unnecessary suffering for the children involved and the possibility of death in some cases.

Child sexual exploitation is said to have “thrived” in the Shropshire town, with cases often going “unchecked” due to fears that investigation into Asian men would “inflame racial tensions.”

But what were the key findings of the inquiry, and what have officials said about the findings?

Why was the Telford inquiry launched?

The inquiry into sexual exploitation of children in Telford was launched after a series of prosecutions relating to the offences.

In 2013, a police operation - named Operation Chalice - led to the conviction of seven men on child prostitition charges.

In 2018, a Sunday Mirror investigation found that 1,000 children could have been exploited over a 40 year period in the town, meanwhile in 2019, one of the seven men previously prosecuted was jailed once again for the abuse of a young girl.

The official inquiry was launched in 2019 following this prosecution and focused on allegations ranging from 1989 until present day.

However, inquiry chairman Tom Crowther QC confirmed that he had also spoken to victims who experienced absued as far back as the 1970s.

What were the key findings of the Telford inquiry?

The outcomes of the inquiry were published three years after it launched.

Mr Crowther said: “The overwhelming theme of the evidence has been the appalling suffering of generations of children caused by the utter cruelty of those who committed child sexual exploitation.

“Victims and survivors repeatedly told the inquiry how, when they were children, adult men worked to gain their trust before ruthlessly betraying that trust, treating them as sexual objects or commodities.

“Countless children were sexually assaulted and raped. They were deliberately humiliated and degraded. They were shared and trafficked. They were subjected to violence and their families were threatened.

“They lived in fear and their lives were forever changed.”

He added that this abuse was facilitated by West Murcia Police (WMP) and Telford Council officials who left cases “unchecked”, adding: “Failure by agencies to investigate emboldened offenders; failure to safeguard put children at risk.”

Mr Crowther drew conclusions that cases were not properly investigated as police insisted on “over-caution” regarding “hard evidence” and that officials did not want to stoke racial tensions in the area.

He said: “So far as both the council and WMP were concerned, a number of features appear to have contributed to this shocking failure to address CSE (child sexual exploitation): a focus upon abuse within the family, at the expense of extra-familial exploitation; over-caution about acting in the absence of ‘hard evidence’ – a formal complaint from a child – about exploitation; and a nervousness that investigating concerns against Asian men, in particular, would inflame racial tensions.”

Other conclusions drawn in the inquiry showed that information was not shared properly between the agencies, that child exploitation was often excused as “child prostitution” and in some cases the child was blamed for this.

Mr Crowther added that perpetrators were “emboldened” to continue the abuse as it was not being investigated, and that WMC and the council scaled back specialist teams “to save money”.

Teachers and youth workers were also “discouraged from reporting child sexual exploitation.”

What did police and council say about the Telford inquiry findings?

Both West Murcia Police and Telford Council have apologised to the children affected by the abuse over the past three decades.

Assistant Chief Constable Richard Cooper said: “While there were no findings of corruption, our actions fell far short of the help and protection you should have had from us, it was unacceptable, we let you down.

“It is important we now take time to reflect critically and carefully on the context of the report and the recommendations that have been made.”

However, West Mercia’s police and crime commissioner John Campion added that it could not be said woth “absloute certainty” that such sexual exploitation would never happen again, adding: “This report will no doubt have people questioning their confidence in policing.”

Telford Council confirmed that it had accepted the findings and had already began to work on the key points found in the inquiry.

A council spokesman added that it was working “very hard” to provide “the best possible support for victims of this crime”.