Vulnerable children as young as 11 are being groomed for possible sexual exploitation in Middlesbrough, a new report reveals.
Dozens of young people have been identified as potential victims of child sex exploitation (CSE) in the town, a report compiled by Middlesbrough Council’s Community Safety and Leisure Scrutiny Panel says.
The panel’s report, to be considered at Tuesday’s executive meeting, aimed to assess the extent of the problem in Middlesbrough, see how it is being tackled and suggest additional measures which could be put in place.
It gathered evidence from various groups, including Cleveland Police, Barnardo’s and the Middlesbrough Safeguarding Children Board. And after hearing concerns that CSE is on the rise, locally and nationally, the authority is being urged to ensure it remains “one of the council’s top priorities.”
A deputy headteacher told the panel CSE was a "growth industry" in the town.
The 35-page report, which includes nine recommendations, heard from Barnardos that children as young as 11 have been groomed via the internet, social networking sites, in parks and even by the perpetrator befriending their parents first.
The report tells councillors: “The bottom line is...protecting children from CSE is everyone’s responsibility.
“The topic often gets highlighted in the media when there is a high profile case, as has happened in Middlesbrough, then once the furore has died down and media attention dissipates, it becomes yesterday’s news. It does not mean that it is not happening, it is real, it’s here and preventing it from happening must continue to be one of the council’s top priorities.”
The panel was “reassured” by the establishment of a Vulnerable, Exploited, Missing and Trafficked (VEMT) group.
Part of the Middlesbrough Safeguarding Children Board, the group meets every six weeks to discuss young people identified as being at risk. It was created after concerns that exploitation had been identified as an “emerging issue” in Middlesbrough and the numbers were “significantly higher” than in the other Tees Valley areas.
At the time the panel met, 42 vulnerable young people were being monitored by the VEMT but, during the past year, the number had been as high as 68. Another group which also meets regularly to help identify potential victims had identified 50 to 60 young people.
The report notes that every Middlesbrough secondary school has a member of staff trained to spot the signs of CSE.
It also recommends that the work done by Acklam Grange School in training staff to recognise the potential signs of CSE should be adopted as a model of good practice.
The school’s assistant headteacher, Martin Burnett, told the panel that CSE in Middlesbrough was a “growth industry” and extremely prevalent in the town, but schools were not “burying their heads in the sand” and were developing ways to address CSE.
The report also recommends the extension of a scheme where, for 20 nights a year between 10pm-4am, a van crewed by two police officers, a social worker, Barnardo’s and a youth worker travels around Middlesbrough, looking for children and young people walking the streets at night.
And it calls on the Government to tighten a legal loophole where taxi drivers have their licence suspended if caught grooming a child in their car, yet they remain free to apply for a PSV licence and legitimately drive a minibus.
Multi-agency working and the sharing of information is seen by the panel as a key weapon in the fight against CSE.
The report states: “Child sexual exploitation will not be tolerated in our area. Work will carry on seeking out, investigating and stopping perpetrators of this horrible crime.”
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