Charity raised concerns before arrests
It has emerged that concerns for a young girl that was repeatedly abused by a gang of men in Buckinghamshire were raised by a charity years before the abusers were arrested for their crimes.
The charity Baranardo's said it had worked with two victims in 2008 and informed local authorities about one of them but found that not enough action had taken place.
Ms Lee-Izu, from the charity and a lead director for child sexual exploitation, said: "In 2008, we worked with both these young people and our work with these young women was very specific to them as individuals. We had concerns about the safety of one young woman and we made a referral to the local authority and the relevant agencies. At that time, the agencies didn't respond in a way that we wanted, that we expected them to, although some actions were taken by the local authority, so we escalated those actions further. But insufficient action was taken as far as we were concerned."
Six men have now been found guilty of abuse on a massive scale with the court hearing that the abuse has gone on for several years and included rape and child prostitution. Critics believe the girls have been let down and because of failings in Buckinghamshire county council they will have been put through further trauma that could have been prevented.
David Johnston the director of children's services apologised to the girls on behalf of Buckinghamshire county council and said:"We know a great deal more about child sexual exploitation than we did back then and I hope that young people who are worried about themselves or someone they know will have the same courage to come forward.”
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