Girls exploited by Asian grooming gangs in Rotherham allege that they were also preyed upon by police officers, it emerged today.
One says she was raped from the age of 12 by a serving South Yorkshire Police officer in a marked car, the BBC reports.
He would threaten to hand her back to the gang if she did not comply, she says.
The woman is one of five who allege that as children they were exploited by corrupt police as well as grooming gangs.
Among officers alleged to have preyed on girls is PC Hassan Ali.
He died in 2015 having been hit by a car on the day he was suspended over alleged misconduct during the abuse scandal.
At least 1,400 girls in Rotherham were abused by gangs of men – mainly of Pakistani heritage – between 1997 and 2013, Prof Alexis Jay concluded in a landmark report in 2014.
South Yorkshire Police’s major crime unit is currently conducting the inquiry into the involvement of police officers in the Rotherham grooming scandal under the ‘direction and control’ of police watchdog the IOPC.
Three former South Yorkshire officers have been arrested on suspicion of historic sexual offences including attempted rape, indecent assault and misconduct in a public office while they were on duty. (Pictured: South Yorkshire Police HQ)
Professor Alexis Jay (pictured) said in her landmark 2014 report that at least 1,400 children were abused in Rotherham over 16 years while authorities and the police failed to act
Three former South Yorkshire officers have been arrested on suspicion of historic sexual offences including attempted rape, indecent assault and misconduct in a public office while they were on duty.
None has been charged.
Written accounts by grooming gang survivors collected by specialist child abuse lawyers allege years of abuse by serving police officers in Rotherham from the mid-1990s to early 2000s.
Most were girls in their teens at the time but some were as young as 11, according to the shocking report.
One reports hearing a police officer having sex with girls in exchange for drugs and money.
Another says she witnessed one supplying class A drugs to a grooming gang.
Three describe being beaten up by officers as children, including in a police cell.
One victim given the pseudonym Willow told the broadcaster she was sexually abused by hundreds of men over five years after first being targeted aged 11 – two of them police officers.
PC Hassan Ali – who died in 2015 having been hit by a car on the day he was suspended over alleged misconduct during the abuse scandal – was named by one alleged victim as having raped her
‘He knew where we used to hang out, he would request either oral sex or rape us in the back of the police car,’ she said.
‘In a world where you were being abused so much, being raped once [each time] was a lot easier than multiple rapes and I think he knew that.’
According to Willow, after she was pressured into an illegal abortion by the grooming gang, a youth worker contacted social services and the police.
But she says one of the officers who had been abusing her turned up to interview her, leaving her ‘destroyed’, later ripping her statement up and throwing it in a bin.
According to the BBC she named PC Hassan Ali as having raped her.
He died in January 2015, a week after being hit by a car.
On the same day he had been put on restricted duties because of an investigation into alleged misconduct in the abuse scandal.
He was never arrested.
Another victim, ‘Emma’, who was in care in the late 1990s, said she would be raped by a police officer in a squat.
‘He knew we wouldn’t be missed, he knew we wouldn’t be reported,’ she told the BBC.
‘He knew we wouldn’t be able to say anything.’
Amy Clowrey, from specialist child abuse law firm Switalskis, who has been collecting the testimony, said the accounts of police preying on grooming gang victims were ‘beyond belief’
South Yorkshire Assistant Chief Constable Hayley Barnett (pictured) insists victims and survivors are ‘at the heart of this investigation and all of our actions continue to be made in their best interests’
Amy Clowrey from Switalskis, who has been collecting the testimony, said the accounts of alleged police were ‘beyond belief’.
‘There has been no accountability in the town – and without accountability, there will continue to be a distrust of South Yorkshire Police,’ she added.
Prof Jay today said she is ‘shocked’ that the force is investigating its own former officers.
She told the BBC there were ‘legitimate’ reasons for victims to feel ‘a total lack of trust’ in the force.
Calling for an outside force or the Inspectorate of Constabulary to be brought in to investigate, she told the BBC that there was a risk of institutions prioritising ‘protecting their reputation’ over ‘the welfare of children’.
Today South Yorkshire Assistant Chief Constable Hayley Barnett insisted that victims and survivors were ‘at the heart of this investigation and all of our actions continue to be made in their best interests’.
She added: ‘We have a dedicated team of detectives working on this case who have worked diligently to explore all lines of enquiry. This has led to three arrests.
‘One of those former officers remains on police bail pending further enquiries. The other two have been released from bail while the investigation continues.
‘The investigation is overseen by the IOPC, which has directed South Yorkshire Police to investigate on its behalf.’
In addition the force is ‘working closely’ with the National Crime Agency, she added.
The force told the BBC that PC Ali had faced ‘allegations of persistently asking a victim on a date, sharing information and failure to safeguard victims’.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct said it was informed by South Yorkshire Police of allegations of historic abuse by its officers last year.
It subsequently instructed the force to carry out an investigation ‘under our direction and control’.
A spokesman said: ‘We have been in contact with solicitors representing some of the victim-survivors regarding further reports of offending to ensure that any new complaints are investigated.
‘The investigation has since widened to involve complaints from six women.
‘We want victim-survivors to feel confident that all complaints will be treated extremely seriously and sensitively.
‘We encourage any victim-survivors or any witnesses to come forward if they have not already done so.’
It told the BBC it was ‘satisfied that there is no conflict of interest’ and that it had been assured by South Yorkshire Police that none of the investigating officers worked with those currently under investigation.
