A charity has called for more to be done to tackle child sexual exploitation on the day that nine men are due to be sentenced for their part in a sex grooming ring in Rochdale.

Safe and Sound Derby spoke out following the case which heard that the men, from Rochdale and Oldham, exploited vulnerable teenage girls as young as 13.

They were found guilty of offences including rape and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child.

The 11-week trial, at Liverpool Crown Court, heard the men plied their victims with drink and drugs so they could “pass them around” for sex. Two men were acquitted.

Safe and Sound Derby helps children and young people who are being, or who are at risk of being sexually exploited.
Chief executive Nathalie Walters said: “This has been a truly horrific case and our sympathies lie with the victims of these men. We hope that they can get the help they need to rebuild their lives.

“What cases like this do is focus the national spotlight on the issue of child sexual exploitation and raise awareness among parents, carers and young people as well as those agencies involved in keeping children safe.

“The Government launched an action plan earlier this year to tackle child sexual exploitation but a consistent approach is needed among agencies across the country so that children and their families can avoid becoming victims in the first place.”

Ms Walters said there were a number of warning signs that could suggest a child is being, or is at risk of being, sexually exploited.
These include:
•Frequently going missing from home or school
•Going out late at night and not returning until morning
•Being picked up in cars by unknown adults
•A significantly older ‘boyfriend’ or ‘friend’
•Unexplained money, mobile phone credit or a new mobile phone
•Changes in behaviour, for example becoming secretive or aggressive
•Increased use of mobile phones
•Involvement in criminal activity

A Derby charity is urging young people to stay safe online as part of an annual awareness event aimed at protecting children on the web.Safe and Sound Derby is backing Safer Internet Day, which takes place on Tuesday, February 7^th 2012 across Europe.

The charity, which helps children and young people who are being, or who are at risk of being sexually exploited, hopes the day will highlight the issue of online safety.

Nathalie Walters, chief executive of Safe and Sound Derby, said:  “Sexual exploitation comes in many forms and young people need to be aware of the risks in order to help them stay safe.

“They can get a false sense of security because they are sat at a keyboard but unfortunately there are people out there who will use any means they can try to prey on youngsters. They will lie about who they are and lure their targets into believing they can be trusted.

“But if young people follow some simple steps they can ensure they keep themselves safe.

“Parents and carers should make sure they know what their child is doing on the web.

“If they said they had met someone new at school or in town, a parent would want to know who that person was and the same approach should be adopted for people their child might meet online.

“They need to make sure they show an in interest in their child’s lives and who they interact with.”

Some simple steps parents and carers can follow include:

• Install a websafe browser on computers
• Ask your child to show you the sites they use and help them to create strong passwords for any they log into. A combination of numbers, capital letters and symbols is ideal
• Talk to your child’s mobile phone operator about filtering software to block inappropriate content and websites
• If your child uses social networking sites to communicate with friends, ensure they set their profile setting to private and together add the ClickCEOP app to their profile on Facebook,  www.facebook.com/clickceop
• Help your children to understand they should never give out personal details to online friends they do not know offline. These include an email address, mobile number, school name, sports club, arrangements for meeting up with friends and any pictures or videos of themselves, their family or friends
• Make your children aware that they need to think carefully about the information, videos and pictures they put online or exchange with friends. Once published online or shared, they have lost control and anyone can change or share the images of them
• If your child receives spam or junk email and texts, remind them never to believe their contents, reply to them or use them
• It’s not a good idea for your child to open files that are from people they don’t know. They won’t know what they contain - it could be a virus or an inappropriate image or film
• Help your child to understand that some people lie online and it’s better to keep online friends online. They should never meet up with any strangers without an adult they trust
• Always make sure your child feels comfortable in being able to come to you or someone they trust if they are worried about anything online. Teach young people how to block someone online and report them if they feel uncomfortable. 

Safer Internet Day (SID) is an annual European Union event to promote the safe and responsible use of technology among children and young people.

A Derby charity has carried out training with more than 100 police officers in the city to raise awareness of the impact of child sexual exploitation on families.

Safe and Sound Derby was invited by Derbyshire Constabulary to perform the sessions to Police Constables, Sergeants and detectives in Derby Division.

The charity, which helps children and young people who are being, or who are at risk of being sexually exploited, was asked to work with officers to highlight the effect this type of crime has on families.
Nathalie Walters, chief executive of Safe and Sound Derby, said this was another example of agencies in the city working together to fight child sexual exploitation.

She said: “Derby has been highlighted as a place where the organisations involved in child protection are working well together to tackle the problem of child sexual exploitation.

“This is another example of that work. We work closely with Derbyshire Constabulary and we were more than happy to speak directly with those officers at the front-line who regularly come into contact with young people and their families.

“Many children who are at risk of sexual exploitation start out as a missing person report and the police are often one of the first agencies involved in dealing with that.

“It is vital that in those early stages officers strike up the right rapport with families and ask the right questions to help identify whether their children may be at risk or not.

“It was also another opportunity to remind officers of the realities of child exploitation and the warning signs.”

Cheryl Stevens, a parent support worker with the charity, delivered the training to the officers with fellow parent support worker Lucy Johnson.

She said: “Our aim has been to highlight the experiences of the parents whose children are at risk of or being sexually exploited with particular focus on how the police and parents can work together more effectively.

“We took in with us real examples of situations that parents have experienced when reporting their child missing and what it’s like to be involved in the missing person process.

“We also focus on what expectations families have of the police and how Safe and Sound Derby can work alongside officers.”

She said that during the sessions they talked to police about how the whole family unit was affected by child sexual exploitation and how parents were often anxious, bewildered and unable to digest the complexities of the issue.

Inspector Richard Keene, who helped to organise the sessions, said: “We have seen the impact child exploitation can have at close quarters following the Operation Retriever case.

“It is important that our officers not only realise what to look out for but also how best to interact with parents and carers and realise the huge impact it has on them.”

To connect with Safe & Sound Derby and get up-to-date information about our work and other relevant stories visit our Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Safe-and-Sound-Derby/191570574235207

Safe & Sound Derby now has a Twitter account. Follow @derbysafesound.

Safe & Sound Derby played a pivotal role in the creation of the UK action plan to fight child sexual exploitation across England.

The charity took part in discussions at a round-table meeting with Children’s Minister Tim Loughton to help devise the strategy, which has been published today.

The action plan is set to draw on work around the country to prevent child sexual exploitation, identify those at risk and support victims.

It is also set to address the challenge of securing prosecutions and the need for robust action against perpetrators.

The profile of domestic child grooming and trafficking was raised in January after the jailing of a gang of men in Derby, as part of Operation Retriever, which had been grooming girls as young as 12 for sex.

Nathalie Walters is chief executive of Safe and Sound Derby.  She hopes the plan will result in a more consistent approach to child sexual exploitation across the country.

She said: “Recent research by the University of Bedfordshire found that only a quarter of Local Safeguarding Children Boards in England were implementing guidance published in 2009 about tackling child sexual exploitation.

“Fortunately in Derby the response by the agencies involved in safeguarding these children is good, but in some areas of England this is not the case.

“Child sexual exploitation impacts on all aspects of a child’s health, well-being and future  prospects. All children being abused in this way should be offered specialist support to help them move on from their experiences.

“Work done in Derby has contributed greatly to this action plan, which I wholeheartedly welcome.

“I hope that it brings this issue to the forefront of people’s minds.”

Ms Walters attended a meeting at Portcullis House in London with Mr Loughton and
representatives from other agencies involved in the fight against child sexual exploitation.

She said: “It was a chance for us to feed into the action plan. We attended another meeting in Derby which involved representatives from a number of agencies and authorities so we could discuss what we thought needed to be addressed in the plan.

“We also met with a representative from the Department for Education earlier this year and talked to them about our experiences; told them about how we worked, what we did and the kind of service that we offered.”

Ms Walters said Derby was an example of an area where good work was being done.

She said: “There is a positive and proactive response in Derby but this is not the case across the country.

“There needs to be a real focus on discussing what’s actually happening, child sexual exploitation is often called a hidden crime but it isn’t hidden if you know what to look for, if you are looking for it you can spot it.

“For example, you might have a child who is being rebellious and who may have been excluded from school or their behaviour might have changed. Often there is a reason for that, you need to dig deeper to get to the root of the problem.”

Ms Walters said “I sincerely hope that this new action plan goes some way to bring about the changes that are so desperately needed if we are to successfully tackle child sexual exploitation.”

You can read the full report on the Department for Education website.

On 25th September Corina, Mary and Eileen ran the Berlin Marathon in aid of Safe & Sound Derby. To donate, please visit http://www.mycharitypage.com/eileenbarrett

Staff and customers at the Sainsbury’s store in the Westfield have voted Safe & Sound Derby their ‘Local Charity of the Year’.  Sainsbury’s will work with Safe & Sound to raise awareness of child sexual exploitation amongst their colleages and customers, and will also hold fundraising events in support of the charity.

Kirsty Minns of Safe & Sound said “We are delighted that the customers and staff of Sainsbury’s Westfield have chosen Safe & Sound Derby as their local charity of the year.  Everyone here is looking forward to building a positive relationship with the store and its customers, which will raise awareness of child sexual exploitation, and support Safe & Sound’s work with victims of this horrible crime.”

The next planned event will be towards the end of October, focussing on Hallowe’en.

The Matlock Rotary Summer Extravaganza took place at Haddon Hall on Friday 26th August, with Safe & Sound Derby one of the organisations named as beneficiaries of the proceeds. 

The event raised a great amount with Safe & Sound’s share amounting to £1000, which was presented to Nicola Dalby, Development Manager of Safe & Sound at the Rotary meeting on Monday 26th September.

Safe & Sound Derby has received a grant of £242,484 from the Ministry of Justice to support its work. The grant has been awarded over three years and will support its direct work with children and young people who are being, or at risk of being sexually exploited, and their parents.

Nathalie Walters, Interim Chief Executive, says, “We are delighted to receive this funding from the Ministry of Justice. It will help us to meet the growing demand for our services.”