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2w ago

NCA Assumes Control of Rotherham Police Abuse Probe

Victims' trust in South Yorkshire Police had collapsed, prompting an external agency to restore confidence.

ROTHERHAM, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 11: Police presence are seen outside as Shaun Wright, Police and Crime Commissioner of South Yorkshire attends a South Yorkshire Police and Crime Panel meeting at Rotherham Town Hall on September 11, 2014 in Rotherham, England. Shaun Wright was a council cabinet member with responsibility for children's services in Rotherham from 2005 to 2010, in the middle of a 16-year period when 1,400 youngsters suffered wide scale sexual exploitation. He has faced calls to resign from the Home Secretary Theresa May and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg. (Photo by Anna Gowthorpe/Getty Images)
National crime agency takes over investigation into claims police sexually abused children in rotherham
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Five women who were exploited by grooming gangs as children have claimed they were also sexually abused by South Yorkshire police officers

Overview

  • The Independent Office for Police Conduct and South Yorkshire Police jointly requested the National Crime Agency take over to eliminate any perceived conflict of interest.
  • Investigators from the NCA’s Operation Stovewood have begun gathering evidence under IOPC direction.
  • Three retired South Yorkshire officers have been arrested on suspicion of historical child sexual offences.
  • Lawyers and survivors welcomed the shift as overdue but remain uneasy about the ongoing role of the IOPC and urged more victims to come forward.
  • The move follows the Jay report and Operation Linden, which exposed systemic failures to protect children and resistance to probing officer misconduct.