A former top police officer who led a grooming investigation in Oxford has warned there are “guys we couldn’t catch still out there”.
According to Simon Morton, a former senior investigating officer for Thames Valley Police, there are perpetrators still in the area hiding in plain sight and “influencing and arranging others to do the same thing”.
The ex-cop spearheaed Operation Bullfinch, which was then the biggest criminal investigation in Oxford in 2011 and led to the convictions of 21 men for offences from the late 1990s to the late 2000s. He chillingly admitted grooming is “happening in every city around the country”.
However, Mr Morton claimed calls for a new public inquiry are “pointless” and would be a waste of money. The government has already said it will dopt recommendations made in 2022 by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, led by Professor Alexis Jay.
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Mr Morton revealed there are perpetrators still in the area hiding in plain sight (file)
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Mr Morton told the BBC: “We’ve done the public inquiry. Every single investigation has been thoroughly reinvestigated and checked. We’ve had seven years worth of Prof Jay and her team looking at child sex exploitation and made the recommendations. Let’s get it going. Don’t waste your money on more pointless inquiries.”
His comments come after a Conservative amendment to the government’s Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, which would have forced a national inquiry into grooming downs, was voted down last night.
Mr Morton, who admitted survivors of abuse don’t trust anyone including the police or social services, claimed perpetrators are still active. “When we did this investigation, we spoke to lots of girls and there were even more offenders or suspects,” he said.
“We weren’t able to turn some of the girls to talk to us and tell us their story. We took nine men to court, and we had only a small amount of victims come and give evidence. It was much bigger than that.”
Thames Valley Police said the information revealed during the 2011 Operatoin Bullfinch investigation led to “24 convictions with sentences totalling over 250 years’ imprisonment”.
“There are now more police officers and detectives working in child abuse investigation and the management of sexual offenders and a new dedicated team monitor all investigations into missing people and identify patterns or underlying issues,” it said.
Futhermore, they stated that the exploitation of children “is and continues to be a priority”.