Police arrest 20 men for alleged involvement in Calderdale grooming gang

Police urge victims to come forward after crackdown in West Yorkshire

The arrests follow a series of operations targeting sexual exploitation (PA)

Police have arrested 20 men as part of an investigation into historic abuses by a grooming gang that operated in West Yorkshire.

The suspects, aged between 28 and 43, were detained in three days of raids across Calderdale and Kirklees.

Two have been released on police bail and another 18 remain under investigation.

Detective Inspector Allan Raw, of West Yorkshire Police, said the force was committed to investigating current and historic cases.

“These are abhorrent crimes that affect the most vulnerable in our society,” he added.

“Tackling any form of child abuse is not something that any one agency can do in isolation though which is why we work closely with local authorities and other organisations and charities to support victims, bring offenders to justice and make our communities safer.

“We would urge anyone who has been a victim of sexual abuse, no matter when it took place, to report it to the police. Please be assured that you will be listened to, taken seriously and supported by professionals with experience of dealing with these kind of offences.”

A group of 15 men have already been jailed for systematically abusing teenage girls in the Calderdale area, after being convicted of offences including rape, grooming and trafficking.

Prosecutors said the gang attacked victims in cars or plied them with drink and drugs at their homes.

This week’s arrests were part of the same investigation, which centres on allegations made a woman who was the victim of sexual abuse as a child in the Halifax area between 2006 and 2009.

They came after another suspected grooming gang was uncovered by Cleveland Police, with officers arresting 10 suspects in Stockton-on-Tees and Sheffield on Tuesday.

A 30-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of rape and the others, aged between 18 and 47, were detained for offences including conspiracy to rape and commit human trafficking, blackmail, causing girls to engage in sexual activity and drugs offences.

Intelligence gathered so far suggests that an unknown number of young women have been trafficked within Cleveland and beyond the area for several months, being raped by multiple men after being driven to residential homes.

Police struck after a woman from Teesside came forward to say she had been taken to different parts of the country and abused.

Her evidence has identified 10 other potential victims and investigators expect the number to rise as the operation continues.

There have been several large-scale police operations against grooming gangs in the wake of revelations that victims in Rotherham were ignored or accused of criminal offences over years of abuse.

More than 700 potential victims were identified by Operation Sanctuary, which investigated grooming gangs operating in Northumberland and Tyne and Weir – bordering Cleveland.

Officials warned at the time that there was “every likelihood this is happening in every town and city across the country”, urging police and local councils to actively search for grooming activity.

More than a dozen men have been jailed for their part in the Newcastle-based ring, and groups have been prosecuted for sexual exploitation in Oxford, Bradford and Rochdale.

Last month, The Independent revealed that a new suspected grooming gang had been uncovered in London, with at least four girls aged between 13 and 15 reporting rape.

Police said a criminal gang was operating out of a McDonald’s in Stratford, targeting victims before taking them to different locations where they were sexually assaulted.

Drugs and alcohol are frequently used by grooming gangs to incapacitate girls or coerce them into sex, with the criminality later discouraging victims from going to police.

There are several methods of grooming, with the best-known “boyfriend” model seeing an abusive relationship used to force victims into sex with others.

Children can also be trafficked, befriended online or – in the so-called “party model” – targeted by groups of men who lure them to gatherings with offers of drinks, drugs, money and car rides.