Major report reveals victims of child sexual exploitation in Greater Manchester were let down by authorities

A major review into widespread child sexual exploitation in Manchester has found victims were let down by police and the social care system that was meant to protect them.

As a result a new criminal investigation's been launched into the crimes, which date back to 2003.

The review was commissioned following the broadcast of a BBC documentary in 2017 called The Betrayed Girls, about child sexual exploitation in Greater Manchester.

Mayor Andy Burnham then announced he wanted to assure himself and the public that everything possible has been done to protect children today and in the future and prevent it from happening again.

The findings of the first independent review have been published today - “An assurance review of Operation Augusta.”

The report looks at the Operation Augusta investigation, which was launched by Greater Manchester Police following the death of 15-year-old Victoria Agoglia in 2003, who died after years of abuse and just days after she was injected with heroin by a 50-year-old man.

Whilst Victoria’s death was investigated at the time, allegations of long standing sexual abuse before her death have never been investigated and perpetrators not pursued.

The report found that Operation Augusta had not addressed the issue it was set up for: to tackle the sexual exploitation of a number of children in the care system.

Officers carrying out the initial phase of the investigation reported that there were 97 people identified as potentially being involved in some way in the sexual exploitation of children as a perpetrator, facilitator or an associate of either.

The scoping report of Operation Augusta described these people as predominantly Asian men working in the restaurant industry.

Due to the investigation being closed early, the review team said they couldn't be sure that appropriate action was taken by Police or the council to address the risk in relation to 16 children in their sample including Victoria Agoglia.

Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said: “In 2017, two TV programmes were broadcast about child sexual exploitation in Greater Manchester. The first, the Three Girls drama, depicted distressing events in 2012, and the second, The Betrayed Girls documentary, included a former GMP detective who raised concerns publicly about the abrupt termination of an earlier investigation in Manchester - Operation Augusta in 2005.

“This suggestion that there had been a repeated failure to protect children in Greater Manchester led me to set up this review. I am grateful to Malcolm and Gary for the patient and painstaking way in which they have shone a light on this dark chapter and to Greater Manchester Police and Manchester City Council for their cooperation with the review process.

“The report makes extremely difficult reading. But, it is only by fully facing up to past failures - however painful that is - that we will be able to correct them as best we can and better protect children today.

“Victoria’s death should have been a wake-up call on child sexual exploitation to the whole of Greater Manchester. But it wasn’t. Her death exposed a network of paedophiles brazenly abusing young people – girls and boys - in care. Each and every one of those abusers should have been brought to justice but, appallingly, most escaped and some were left to reoffend.

“This report reveals the same problematic institutional mindset in public authorities that we have seen elsewhere: young, vulnerable girls not seen as the true victims by those whose job it was to protect them but instead as the problem. The system was guilty of appalling failings and I say sorry to all the victims that they were let down in this way. But I can also say to them that I am determined to ensure others will not suffer in the way they have. My goal in publishing this report is to banish for good from Greater Manchester the old mindset that failed them so badly. We will have a zero tolerance approach to child sexual exploitation of any kind and authorities will hunt it down and root it out wherever it is found.

“The fact that a new criminal investigation has been opened by GMP shows that it was right to commission this review and I will ensure that they will have all the resources they need to give the victims the justice they have so long waited to see.

“Finally, I wish to praise the work of the whistleblowers without whose courage and determination the truth would never have been told.”

Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime and Chair of the Child Sexual Exploitation Steering Group, Bev Hughes added: “There can be no justifiable reason for the abandonment of Operation Augusta - a major investigation of systemic sexual abuse of children in the care of local authorities. This report lays bare the most profound abuse to which these young people were subjected, when they and their families had every reason to expect they would be safeguarded. When Operation Augusta was abruptly curtailed, children were left unprotected and perpetrators free to continue their appalling activities.

“I want to thank those who have campaigned tirelessly to expose this issue, and the review team for their commitment and dedication in undertaking this difficult work. The report has, at long last, given voice to these young people who until now, have not been heard.

“Cooperation by Greater Manchester Police and Manchester City Council was essential in enabling the review to be completed and also for Victoria’s case and others linked to hers to now be subject to a new criminal investigation. That is absolutely right and I hope it will eventually bring some justice for these young people and their families.

“We will never shy away from investigating allegations of this kind. Ultimately it is our responsibility to learn from the mistakes of the past, uncover child sexual exploitation, encourage people to report it, prosecute it and do all we can to prevent it.

“Although since that time there have been improvements in the investigation of child sexual abuse, not least in Greater Manchester this report also demonstrates that we can and must never be complacent. We must remain vigilant to the continually evolving threats our children face, challenge our own practice and ensure as far as we possibly can that we have the best systems in place to protect our children and bring perpetrators to justice.”

Report co-author Malcolm Newsam said: “Operation Augusta was set up to address the sexual exploitation throughout a wide area of a significant number of children in the care system. Our assurance review has established that very few of the relevant perpetrators were brought to justice and neither were their activities disrupted.

“Most of the children we have considered were failed by the police and children’s services. The authorities knew that many were being subjected to the most profound abuse and exploitation but did not protect them from their perpetrators. Now as adults, they should be given the opportunity to ask that the crimes committed against them be fully investigated. We would also apply the same expectation to the family of Victoria Agoglia, who have been asking for her abuse to be investigated since her tragic death in 2003.

“Furthermore, the Mayor, as Police and Crime Commissioner, must consider with Greater Manchester Police and Manchester City Council how the people who appeared to present a risk to children in 2004 can now be brought to justice and any risk they still present to children mitigated.”

Since Operation Augusta there has been a significant change in how child sexual exploitation is viewed: it is now recognised as a serious form of child abuse.

Statutory agencies now work better together to proactively prevent children from being exploited in the first place, finding and prosecuting the perpetrators when it happens, and putting victims first by listening to them and believing them and providing them with the support they need.

A Greater Manchester Safeguarding Standards Board has also been created with representatives from each of the 10 local safeguarding partnerships, chaired by an independent expert, to provide independent scrutiny to see how well Greater Manchester is responding to this complex and difficult issue. It is now subject to peer review and the outcomes are being checked again by national experts external to Greater Manchester.

If you have information relating to these issues and you’d like to contact someone about it or if you have been affected by these issues, please contact this independent helpline 08081689024. This service is provided by Victim Support.

Support and advice for children and young people, parents and carers, and professionals about all aspects of child sexual exploitation is available from itsnotokay.co.uk, as well as information about how to report it.

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