Hundreds of grooming gang cases now under review in nationwide NCA operation

The national police investigation was one of Baroness Louise Casey’s 12 recommendations following her rapid audit of the scandal in June.

The operation will run alongside the national public inquiry, which has been hampered by resignations from both members of the victims’ panel and the two leading candidates to chair the process.

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The operation has identified 236 investigations that were incorrectly closed with no further action taken.

The NCA said that these cases include circumstances where lines of enquiry were not pursued and occasions where victim testimonies were not being sought or recorded when crimes were reported.

Its team is working alongside the so-called grooming gangs taskforce and other intelligence partners to assess the cases referred to them by police forces across England and Wales.

Police Scotland and the PSNI are also said to be in discussions to take part.

So far, the Operation Beaconport investigations team has been referred 1,273 group-based child sexual exploitation cases by 23 forces.

That number includes 236 allegations of rape, which it said it is “reviewing as a priority".

The NCA added that its director general had issued an order to all forces in England and Wales to ensure consistent data submissions on group-based CSAE and that reviews are conducted to “an agreed national standard.”

Under the Crime and Courts Act, which established the NCA in 2013, the NCA director general has the power to give orders to chief constables of other forces. The power is rarely used, marking the significance of this act.

The order comes as the Beaconport team is developing a new nationwide model for investigations into grooming gang abuse using organised crime methodologies.

The force said that it is developing an “increased understanding of child sexual abuse as serious and organised crime, particularly offender networks and profiling, to understand the evidence gap around ethnicity data, as well as gender-based violence norms that are driving group-based child sexual exploitation to assist future investigations.”

It comes amid a wider understanding of grooming abuse networks as being linked to organised criminal gangs, particularly drug dealing and trafficking.

GB News has identified networks of grooming gang abusers linked across the country, with dozens of victims and survivors telling the People’s Channel about how they were trafficked for abuse or that men travelled across Britain to abuse them.

As part of the NCA’s commitment to “victim-focused” investigations, the force said that Operation Beaconport is not asking anyone to come forward. It said that its officers will not be contacting victims and survivors until all relevant information has been carefully reviewed to prevent causing unnecessary distress.

NCA Director General Graeme Biggar said: “Baroness Casey’s audit of group-based child sexual abuse and exploitation demanded law enforcement’s collective attention and a focused, UK-wide investigation which places victims and survivors at its very heart.

“Operation Beaconport is harnessing the experience of specially trained officers from the National Crime Agency and wider policing. It’s applying the tried and tested approach of Operation Stovewood and wider best practise to ensure victim and survivors’ experiences are validated, that their allegations are investigated thoroughly and that perpetrators face justice.

“It will set out a blueprint for future group-based child sexual abuse and exploitation investigations to ensure that police forces utilise every appropriate tactic and tool available to prevent child sexual abuse, to identify and arrest perpetrators and to swiftly safeguard victims and survivors.

“I have issued a Crime and Courts Act tasking for policing to continue to support higher quality investigations, criminal justice outcomes, improved victim and survivor experiences, and access to actionable intelligence to support this work.

“Operation Beaconport will ensure we right the wrongs of the past and victim and survivors’ voices are heard. We must ensure that the horrors outlined in Baroness Casey’s report can never happen again."

Chief Constable Becky Riggs, National Police Chiefs’ Council Lead for Child Protection and Abuse Investigation, said: “The National Audit on Group-Based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, led by Baroness Casey, set out several key recommendations with significant implications for policing.

"In the months since its publication, the Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE) Taskforce has been working closely with the Home Office, the National Crime Agency (NCA), and the National Police Chiefs’ Council to ensure our response is robust, thoughtful, and shaped by the voices of victims and survivors at the heart of every decision.

“Operation Beaconport marks a vital step forward in our journey towards meaningful cultural change, greater accountability, and a truly victim-centred, trauma-informed approach across law enforcement and agencies responsible for child protection.

“In October, I welcomed the findings of the His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) inspection into child sexual exploitation and group-based offending, and it’s clear, evidence-based recommendations aimed at strengthening our collective response to group-based child sexual exploitation (CSE).

“It is encouraging to see the progress made since the last inspection, particularly in how forces are improving training, and taking steps to eradicate victim-blaming language.

"These developments reflect an enduring commitment across policing to protect vulnerable children and young people. I said at the time that the work does not stop, and Operation Beaconport is just one example of the progress policing has made towards building on the foundations already laid to further strengthen our approach to tackling group-based offending.

“The NPCC remains committed to working in partnership with law enforcement agencies and third sector organisations to embed improvements, share learning, and ensure that all forces are equipped to respond effectively. In the coming weeks, we will continue to develop this work and look forward to sharing further updates as they become available.”

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: "The grooming gangs scandal was one of the darkest moments in this country’s history.

“This Government initiated this national policing operation to track down the evil child rapists that perpetrated these crimes, and put them behind bars where they belong.

“There will be no hiding place for those who abused the most vulnerable in our society.”

Rotherham MP Sarah Champion also told GB News: “I’m glad the NCA are reviewing these cases and I hope justice is swiftly secured for the victims and survivors.

"Let us never forget that at the heart of every case the police or CPS decided not to pursue, there is a child horribly exploited and abused - and a perpetrator who got away with it.

"I would suggest the numbers are just the tip of a very dark iceberg; understandably, very few victims report or are taken seriously when they try to.

"Two-hundred-and-thirty-six cases across England and Wales is shocking, but it is just a fifteen-year snapshot, not the full story, which I believe goes back decades, therefore the real number of cases will be much, much higher.”