Alexis Jay inquiry finds police chiefs need better training to deal with child sex abuse, by Patrick Sawer, Telegraph (April 25, 2018)

Alexis Jay inquiry finds police chiefs need better training to deal with child sex abuse

By Patrick Sawer
Telegraph
April 25, 2018

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/04/25/alexis-jay-inquiry-finds-police-chiefs-need-better-training/

Professor Alexis Jay, who is leading the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse
Photo by Dave Higgens

Police officers should be required to have experience of dealing with major child abuse cases before being promoted to the most senior ranks in the force, an official report has concluded.

The interim report of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), says officers should not be allowed to rise to chief officer rank unless they have already acquired an operational knowledge of abuse cases and have received proper training in dealing with child exploitation issues.

Professor Alexis Jay, the chairwoman of the inquiry, yesterday urged the Home Office to amend its entry entry requirements for chief police officers and called on the College of Policing to develop the necessary training for senior officers.

Her recommendations follow what the IICSA found were years of institutional failures over the issue of child sex abuse, with political leaders all too frequently willing to place their own reputations ahead of protecting its victims.

Police forces and local authorities have been criticised for their apparent lack of urgency following reports of street grooming gangs and other child abuse scandals in places such as Rotherham, Rochdale and Oxford and within institutions such as the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches.

In its report IICSA said: “The Inquiry considers that all too often institutions are prioritising the reputation of political leaders or the reputation of their staff, or avoiding legal liability, claims or insurance implications, over the welfare of children and tackling child sexual abuse.”

The 109-page report concludes that “specific steps should be taken to raise the awareness of child sexual abuse within police forces, and to ensure that the right culture is developed and maintained”.

Professor Jay also called for wide-ranging reform of the civil courts to make sure that abuse victims receive a fairer hearing when seeking compensation for their ordeal.

She said victims should receive “the same protection as vulnerable witnesses in criminal court cases” and criminal compensation rules should also be revised so that awards were not automatically refused when an applicant’s had previous convictions “likely to be linked to child sexual abuse they endured”.

The interim report revealed that as a result of its inquiry, 1,575 referrals were made by the inquiry team to a central police group dubbed Operation Hydrant between March 2015 and June 2017. These led to a total of 2,402 referrals being made to police forces and other law enforcement agencies.

However, of these, 1,749 in England and 117 in Wales resulted in no further action - 78% of the referrals made.

In England, a total of 457 are under ongoing investigation, 14 have resulted in charges and 14 convicted. In Wales, 15 are under investigation, none have been charged or convicted.

Professor Jay found there were several reasons for this low conviction rate, including “a lack of evidence, being unable to trace or identify a perpetrator, a perpetrator being deceased, or a victim and survivor no longer wanting to continue with the criminal process”.

The inquiry has been dogged by controversy and setbacks since it was set up in 2014 by Theresa May in response to the growing number of revelations about historic and current child sex abuse cases.

Professor Jay, who took on the role in August 2016 after the resignation of Dame Lowell Goddard, is the fourth person to chair the inquiry.

It found there was still a reluctance among the public to discuss child abuse and revealed that one radio advert for the IICSA Truth Project - set up to listen to abuse survivors - had been pulled following a complaint from a listener who said it might be heard by children. To date 1,040 accounts of sexual abuse have been heard by the Truth Project.

Professor Jay also said the language used around abuse cases was often hurtful to victims: “Children are still accused of ‘child prostitution’, ‘risky behaviour’ and ‘promiscuity’ and, as a result, continue to feel blamed or responsible for the sexual abuse they have suffered rather than being the victims of serious criminal acts,” her report states.

The report’s 18 recommendations also include the setting up of a register of workers in children’s residential homes and the use of chaperones for children receiving medical care.

It also said the Government should apologise and pay financial compensation to Britons who were abused as children after being forcibly sent to Australia in the post-war years.

The inquiry will go on to look into what the internet industry is doing to protect children online and examine its response to online child sexual abuse.

There has been widespread criticism of social media companies for being slow to respond to fears over their platforms being used to groom children for abuse.