LONDON: Teachers, social workers and councillors who turn a blind eye to child sex abuse will face up to five years in jail under plans for a new criminal offence.
It comes as David Cameron today vows to eradicate the “culture of denial” surrounding the issue.
The Government has decided to act following an official report that found at least 1,400 children were subjected to appalling sexual abuse in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013.
Children as young as 11 were raped by multiple perpetrators, abducted and trafficked to other cities in England.
The Prime Minister will say a “warped” sense of political correctness contributed to local authorities not acting.
The inquiry found there were fears among council staff of being labelled racist if they focused on victims’ descriptions of the majority of abusers as Asian men. There have been separate allegations of decades of paedophile activity by powerful individuals in churches, hospitals, schools, political parties and the BBC.
New measures will be unveiled at a summit in Downing Street attended by victims and survivors’ groups, police chiefs, council leaders, health and social care professionals, and child protection experts.
Ministers plan to introduce a new criminal offence of “wilful neglect” of children suffering abuse, and apply it to social workers, teachers and elected council members.
A similar offence has recently been introduced in the health service and is punishable by up to five years in jail or an unlimited fine, and unlimited fines for organisations.
As well as new sanctions for public sector workers who fail to protect children, the Government will announce a new national helpline for professionals to blow the whistle on bad practice.
Child sex abuse is also to be prioritised as a “national threat” by police and crime commissioners and chief constables.
The Prime Minister will say: “Today, I am sending an unequivocal message that professionals who fail to protect children will be held properly accountable and council bosses who preside over such catastrophic failure will not see rewards for that failure.”
The new offence of wilful neglect will apply when there has been a failure to act when a court concludes that a “moral duty” to do so exists.
It is expected to sit alongside a separate “mandatory reporting” law, which would apply in schools, hospitals, churches, or sports clubs operated by a national body.
Meanwhile, a watchdog is to launch an investigation into the “disgraceful” police failings that allowed more than 300 young girls to be abused by a sex grooming gang a child sex ring based in Oxford. The Independent Police Complaints Commission will announce a wide-ranging inquiry into “systemic” errors by Thames Valley Police which led to scores of youngsters being tortured, raped and trafficked.
Misconduct proceedings could be brought against officers deemed to have negligently missed or ignored warnings that the schoolgirls — all of whom had a background in care — were being abused by a gang.
Oxfordshire Social Services will be heavily criticised for suspecting the girls were being groomed and for failing to protect them, despite strong evidence they were in danger.
