Concern over 'criminalisation' of abuse victims

Derby City Council has said there are "ongoing concerns" about the "criminalisation" of young people by the police in relation to criminal and sexual exploitation of children.

The comments come in response to a national audit on group-based child sexual exploitation and abuse, led by Baroness Louise Casey which made a raft of recommendations to multiple agencies.

In a report responding to the review, children's services at the council said it was concerned officers often made judgements about the behaviour of the children involved rather than focusing on the actions of the adults.

Derbyshire Police said it welcomed the council's recommendations and specialist training was being expanded.

According to government data gathered from 2023 to 2024, Derbyshire Police had 3.51 recorded reports of child sexual exploitation per 1,000 children.

The city council said the rate per 10,000 of cases in Derby where child sexual exploitation was identified as a risk factor had reduced year on year for the past four years - from 34 per 10,000 cases to 15 in 2024.

The council added the data showed the rate in Derby was now "slightly lower" compared to the rest of the region but remained higher than "statistical neighbours".

Children's bosses added there had been "no recent serious incident notifications" in relation to child sexual abuse and exploitation.

The council's children's services said they had identified "ongoing concerns about the criminalisation of young people by the police.

They added the issue in relation to young women was "evident to a lesser extent than child criminal exploitation for boys", but example cases appeared to show "judgements made about the behaviour of the children by police, rather than focusing on the actions and accountability of the adult offenders".

Catherine O'Melia, head of children's quality assurance at the council, said: "This approach misrepresents the child victim and contributes to the further marginalisation and isolation of the child.

"A trauma informed approach is required for all agencies, ensuring that responses are through the lens of protection rather than prosecution."

The council said there also needed to be "consistency" on how ethnicity for both perpetrators and victims was captured and recorded.

Det Supt Sarah McAughtrie, Derbyshire Police's head of serious and organised crime, said: "We welcome the recommendations from the Baroness Casey report and those from the local audit by Derby City Council and are committed to working with all partners to ensure a joined-up response to tackling group based sexual exploitation and abuse.

"An annual Child Sexual Exploitation profile is sent to all partners via the Serious and Organised Crime and Exploitation (SoCEX) board, which includes victim and perpetrator data including ethnicity, where possible.

"We are currently exploring the capability of issuing such a report on a quarterly basis, following the recommendation from Derby City Council.

"All specialist officers working in our child exploitation teams are given training from the Hydrant programme to ensure that they lead their investigations and interactions with children using a trauma-informed approach.

"We are keen to roll this training out to more officers to ensure that where children come to the attention of police our focus is first and foremost around protection and safeguarding."

Children's services bosses at the council updated councillors on their findings at a meeting on Monday.

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