UK probing who’s who for child abuse

LONDON: British police investigating allegations of child sex abuse said that more than 1,400 people had been named as suspects including 261 described as “people of public prominence” including dozens of politicians and TV stars. The list includes 76 politicians, 43 from the music industry, seven from the world of sport and 135 from the TV, film or radio industries.Of these, 666 were alleged to have offended within institutions.
Detectives have also identified 154 schools, 75 children’s homes, nine sports venues, 28 other institutions (military, guest houses) and 40 religious establishments among the institutions where such abuses took place.
In 2014, National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) head for child abuse investigation, chief constable Simon Bailey established a coordination hub, Operation Hydrant to oversee the investigation of allegations of non-recent child sexual abuse within institutions or by people of public prominence.
The NPCC Child Protection and Abuse Investigations Working Group has examined figures from 12 police forces within England and Wales looking at their caseload of child sexual abuse incidents from 2012 to the first quarter of 2015. They show a rise in incidents from 66,120 in 2012 to a projected 113,291 cases in 2015, which is a potential 71% increase in the overall number of cases reported to police over the last three years. Recent cases have risen by 31% and non-recent cases have risen by 165%.
Bailey said, “These figures are stark. They indicate the scale of child abuse police are dealing with. Much public and media focus has been on horrors committed by well-known personalities, groups, gangs or in institutions, but the vast majority of victims are abused by family members or friends.”
Sheila Taylor, chief executive of the National Working Group Network, a charity which tackles child sexual exploitation said, “This investigation is massive and a testimony to how the attitude to victims is changing.”
The issue of child abuse came to widespread prominence in 2012 when the late BBC TV presenter Jimmy Savile was shown to have abused hundreds of victims for decades. Since then, other household names have been convicted, allegations have been made against a number of former or deceased politicians, while detectives are also looking into claims powerful figures forced police to drop inquiries into paedophile rings involving high-profile people.
There are a number of ongoing investigations into historical sex crimes, including Operation Pallial, which is looking at claims of abuse in care homes in north Wales. Operation Yewtree has already seen Rolf Harris and former public relations guru Max Clifford jailed for sex crimes.