A Quarter of Greater Manchester Police's Top Detectives Are Now Working on Historic Sex Abuse Cases
By John Scheerhout
One in four of Greater Manchester Police’s best detectives are now working on historic sex abuse cases, it has emerged. Some 40 of the 160 officers on the force's Major Incident Team are dealing solely with sex cases dating back to the 1960s. They range from the high-profile probe into disgraced former MP Cyril Smith to investigations into alleged grooming gangs and abuse at care homes across Greater Manchester. The unmasking of Jimmy Savile and other public figures as sex abusers has encouraged more and more people to come forward with complaints. The Smith probe has so far uncovered 20 alleged victims who say they were abused between at Knowl View boys’ home in Rochdale and other places. Some 24 others have come forward and alleged they were abused by others at Knowl View. It has emerged an investigation into horrific abuse at the former Broome House care home in Didsbury has been re-opened after a man reported he was raped by staff in the mid-1990s. Three men have been arrested. Now 13 others have come forward and told police they were sexually and physically abused at Broome House and Rose Hill, another care home in Northenden, in the 1960s and 70s. They have made allegations against 11 people and six of them have been identified by police.
The previous investigation into the two homes, and others, identified 500 victims and 536 suspects. Seven people were later convicted. Rochdale and other parts of Greater Manchester are now the focus of another sex grooming investigation. Police have confirmed they have ‘spoken to’ more than 100 people and have so far identified 30 suspects. The suspects are not ‘a homogenous group acting in concert’, insist police. Chief Constable Sir Peter Fahy has previously said groomers are trafficking girls into the region from eastern Europe. Another investigation is looking into 30 allegations of abuse at Woodend Assessment Centre in Atherton, Wigan, dating back to the 1970s. All these investigations and others have swamped GMP, which has now tasked two of its eight Major Investigation Team syndicates to dealing with them. Detective Chief Superintendent Russell Jackson, head of the serious crime division of GMP, said: “I would encourage anyone who was a victim of either sexual or physical abuse to come forward and speak to police as the more evidence we have the better the chances are of bringing abusers to justice. "We completely understand that for many people they will not want to relive the abuse they suffered, but for those who do want to come forward I want to give you complete confidence that your complaints will be treated seriously and thoroughly investigated.”
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