The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales (CBCEW) has said it is “committed” to sharing safeguarding knowledge with “all religions” following the conviction of a gang of mainly Muslim men for grooming and abusing children.
Seventeen men were last week convicted at Newcastle Crown court of offences including rape, human trafficking, conspiracy to incite prostitution and drug supply committed between 2011 and 2014. The victims were mainly underage white girls who were lured by the offer of alcohol and drugs in exchange for sex. The offenders were mostly British-born Muslim men from ethnically Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Iraqi, Indian, Iranian and Turkish backgrounds.
The trial comes after a series of similar cases of grooming gangs targeting underage girls across England, including in Rotherham where as many as 1,400 children were targeted between 1997 and 2013.
Responding to questions from The Tablet about any safeguarding co-operation it is currently engaged in with Muslim leaders in communities affected by child grooming gangs in the wake of last week’s convictions, the CBCEW said it was “committed to both learning from and contributing to the learning of all religions in [this] area of abuse.”
Condemning the grooming “of all vulnerable people for the purpose of exploitation,” the CBCEW said its diocesan safeguarding offices “are committed to assisting anybody who has been hurt by abuse to access support and to refer the matters to the authorities that can investigate and take action.”
PICTURE: Northumbria Police Chief Constable Steve Ashman during a press conference following the arrests after it was revealed police paid a convicted child rapist to spy on parties where they suspected under-age girls would be intoxicated and sexually abused as part of the force's Operation Shelter into child sexual exploitation in Newcastle
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