Rotherham abuse investigation needs 100 more officers, says top cop

At least 100 more officers are needed to investigate the Rotherham child abuse scandal, the head of the operation has said, as he revealed that only around 17 percent of victims have been interviewed so far.

Paul Williamson, the senior investigating officer on Operation Stovewood, said the scale of the task meant his team was struggling to cope up with demand and vulnerable victims were being let down.

The National Crime Agency, which has been investigating historic abuse in the South Yorkshire town for the last three years, has now applied for another 100 specially trained detectives to continue the investigation.

More than 1,500 potential victims and 110 suspects, have so far been identified but those figures are expected to rise.

Mr Williamson, told The Guardian that only around 17 per cent of the victims had been interviewed by his team.

He added that the investigation was now at a crucial stage as officers were preparing to go after grooming gangs rather than lone individuals.

He said: “It’s a really specialist area, engaging and interviewing vulnerable victims. A lot of our victims were children when they were abused but they’re now adults and have associated problems as a result of that abuse, including suicidal tendencies, mental health issues, drug and alcohol addiction.

“It’s really complex. The progress will necessarily be influenced by the number of officers we’ve got on the team and we can see that.”

There are currently 144 officers on Operation Stovewood but the NCA has applied to increase that to 200-250, which was supported by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMIC).

Operation Stovewood was launched in 2015, two years after a report by Professor Alexis Jay, revealed that at least 1,400 children in Rotherham had been sexually exploited by mainly British Pakistani men.

The operation, which is thought to have cost £10m to date, has led to four men being convicted and jailed for a total of more than 30 years.

Mr Williamson said the investigation was comparable in scale and complexity to Operation Resolve, the criminal investigation into the Hillsborough disaster, which he said had more than 200 officers.

He added: “I’m naturally impatient because there should rightly be a high degree of public expectation around the operation and we need to deliver on public expectation. We’re seeing that – we’ve got six trials coming through this year, it’s not insignificant – but we can do more and more quickly.”