Families of grooming gangs now 'bypassing security to intimidate victims'

SHOCK NEW CLAIM IN ROCHDALE SCANDAL

- BY PAUL JEEVES Crime Editor

RELATIVES of grooming gang members have "almost certainly" bypassed security checks to land jobs in the social care sector - giving them unfettered access to sexually exploited children, an expert has warned.

Family members of convicted sex monsters have been caught applying for jobs at charities and organisations, it was said.

Experts insist their aim is not only to "threaten and intimidate" victims into silence but also to "get the girls back" into the evil clutches of the gangs.

With convicted perpetrators being on watch lists or in prison, their associates are said to have launched repeated attempts to "infiltrate" organisations that support the survivors of sexual exploitation.

But a leading social care provider today tells the Sunday Express he has "no doubt" some will have succeeded in "slipping through the net".

Paul O'Rourke, the managing director of Next Stage Youth Development, which has helped girls abused by Rochdale grooming gangs, insists the problem is "really common" and said it is "inevitable" that some people have landed jobs that will put them in direct, unsupervised contact with victims.

He said: "I have absolutely no doubt that people will have slipped through the net. These people are relentless and will stop at nothing to get to the girls.

"The situation is being compounded by a recruitment crisis. The social care sector is so desperate for staff that they may not carry out as in-depth checks as they should because they need people urgently."