Seven members of a Rotherham sex exploitation ring have been sentenced to a total of 106 years in prison for the systematic sexual abuse of two underage girls in the northern English town of Rotherham.
Mohamed Amar, 42, Mohamed Siyab, 44, Yaser Ajaibe, 39, Mohamed Zamir Sadiq, 49, Abid Sadiq, 43, Tahir Yasin, 38 and Ramin Bari, 37, were jailed by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) following investigations carried out as part of the National Crime Agency's Operation Stovewood. Revealed this week.
The operation, which has so far jailed 36 people, was launched after the Jay report revealed that at least 1,400 mainly white British girls were sexually abused or raped by a mainly Pakistani sex abduction gang operating in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013.
According to Child Protective Services, the two victims in this case were 11 and 15 years old when they were lured by seven men who systematically gave the girls drugs and alcohol, before raping and assaulting them.
The defendants were convicted at Sheffield Crown Court of a string of child sexual abuse offences between April 2003 and April 2008 and given a combined sentence of 106 years in prison.
Zoe Becker, for the CPS, said: “These seven men deliberately assaulted two girls, knowing they were vulnerable, and used them for their own sexual gratification with the help of drugs and alcohol.”
“The defendants' brutality and abuse of these victims was horrific and continues to have a lasting impact on their lives today.”
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank both victims for coming forward and giving evidence. This was a complex and difficult case and it is thanks to their courage and fortitude that we have been able to bring the perpetrators to justice.”
“We hope this conviction sends a clear message that Child Protective Services works closely with law enforcement and will relentlessly pursue and prosecute those who sexually exploit children, no matter when the abuse occurs.”
“Every child has the right to feel safe and protected and I urge anyone who has found themselves in a similar situation to come forward and report these incidents to police. It is not too late to seek justice. You are not alone and help is available.”
But some argue that convictions of child lurers in Rotherham and elsewhere are not enough, given reports that local authorities, including the police, turned a blind eye to the abuse of white girls, mainly by Pakistani Muslim men, for fear of being accused of racism.
Former Prime Minister Liz Truss reacts to the recent imprisonment of a groomer said“Those in power who turned a blind eye to these horrific crimes must be held accountable.”
Indeed, a 2020 report by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) found that the abuse of girls in Rotherham by so-called “Asian” grooming gangs was overlooked by police for years for fear of sparking politically correct concerns and “racial tensions” in a town transformed by decades of mass immigration.
In one example, the report claims that Rotherham police chief told the father of a missing girl that the town would be “outraged” if he informed residents that a Muslim sex temptress group was sexually abusing young white girls.
A 2017 report by counter-extremism think tank Quilliam, which collected testimony from sexual abusers during their trials, said child rapists particularly targeted young white girls, who were seen as “easy targets” compared to girls from the same community who the mostly Pakistani men felt should be “protected”.
