SCOTLAND
Scotsman
DANI GARAVELLI
Sunday 27 September 2015
POLICE Scotland’s new national child sex abuse unit has been involved in 65 investigations across the country since it began work in January, it has been revealed.
Its 48 specialist officers, based in Livingston, Inverness, Aberdeen and Dalmarnock, have lent their expertise to inquiries involving abuse carried out in institutions and elsewhere, as well as to operations into child sexual exploitation (CSE). Their work has spanned both historical and recent allegations.
The child sex abuse unit was set up after the report into failings in the investigation of CSE in Rotherham found 1,400 children had been abused between 1997 and 2013.
Its officers – who have specialist training in areas such as interviewing vulnerable witnesses, crime scene management and digital technology – are drafted in to give short-term support to divisional officers involved in complex, protracted or cross-border investigations or those which involve people who are well-known or in positions of trust. Twelve of the 65 inquiries were led by senior investigating officers from the unit.
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