DETECTIVES in West Yorkshire are investigating a grooming gang of 31 men that preyed on two girls, say police.
Members of the gang, which operated in the Calderdale area, are on bail, as are 28 members of another gang in Keighley that allegedly groomed and abused four girls.
Police said they could not give further detail because the investigations were ongoing, but the cases reveal the scale of the problem of child sexual exploitation.
This was highlighted last month with the publication of a report into the grooming and abuse of mainly white girls in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, by gangs of men mostly of Pakistani origin.
The report, by Alexis Jay, a former chief social work adviser to the Scottish government, found that at least 1,400 children had been victims of sexual exploitation over 16 years. She said the problem persisted to this day, and more than 100 cases are expected to be recorded in the town this year.
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David Crompton, the chief constable of South Yorkshire, which covers Rotherham, told the home affairs select committee last week that 12 new victims had come forward since the Jay report.
South Yorkshire has 173 inquiries ongoing, 48 of which relate to Rotherham, and 104 people have been prosecuted, charged or summonsed since January 2013. Neighbouring West Yorkshire police have 65 investigations under way, three of which involve gangs.
In one case, 12 men have been charged and await trial after appearing at Leeds magistrates’ court in June in connection with sexual offences against a girl.
Other forces also report a growing number of investigations: Lancashire police had 1,248 referrals made between April 2013 and March this year, and the Metropolitan police has 657 inquiries ongoing.
Greater Manchester police said they did not collate figures because such offences were listed under specific crimes, such as rape. The force has been criticised for its past handling of such cases.
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Margaret Oliver, a former detective and the family liaison officer with Manchester police, said last week that the force had failed to take seriously the threat posed by “highly organised crime gangs intent on sexually exploiting and abusing our children”, and that this had left many offenders free to continue abusing children.
In 2004 a “scoping” investigation by the force — Operation Augusta — identified more than 200 offenders suspected of abusing children. But the operation was scrapped and no prosecutions for serious sexual offences were made. “I have no doubt that many of those offenders continue to offend today,” Oliver said.
Additional reporting: Hannah Sims