‘Much more to do’ to protect children in NI from sexual exploitation – report

By Jonathan McCambridge (PA)

The criminal justice system in Northern Ireland has “much more to do” to effectively protect children from sexual exploitation and disrupt and prosecute offenders, a new report has said.

Chief Inspector of Criminal Justice Jacqui Durkin said she was concerned that staffing and deployment pressures were affecting the PSNI’s Public Protection Branch, impacting the force’s response to child sexual exploitation.

Her inspectors have carried out a review of progress, five years after Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland (CJI) carried out its initial report on child sexual exploitation.

The follow-up found that out of nine accepted recommendations from the original report, only one had been fully achieved while a further six were partially achieved and and two recommendations were not achieved.

Ms Durkin said: “Child sexual exploitation is not a lifestyle choice for children who go missing.

“It is not a fictitious storyline in a popular television drama; it is child abuse.

“It is real and it is happening here in our towns, cities and rural communities.

“It can involve children who live with their parents just as much as those who are in care or have been in care before and it has a devastating impact on victims.”

Inspectors found that since 2020 work has been undertaken by the PSNI in partnership with the Department of Justice (DoJ)and others to “develop a clearer picture of the scale and nature of child sexual exploitation that is occurring”.

Ms Durkin said: “It is encouraging that work to develop a comprehensive ‘problem profile’ has been progressed, but data gaps continue to exist and more needs to be done, as efforts to effectively respond to child sexual exploitation depend on the abuse being identified in the first place.”

She said she was concerned by staffing and deployment pressures affecting the PSNI’s Public Protection Branch.

The chief inspector said: “These dedicated police officers, who are committed to protecting children, do complex and harrowing work.

“While I respect that the deployment of police officers is an operational decision for the Chief Constable, I was deeply concerned that at the time of fieldwork for this follow-up review, the child sexual exploitation team had three detective constables out of a complement of 12.

“This placed additional pressure on these officers and their supervisors and was impacting the PSNI’s response to, and the investigation of, child sexual exploitation, creating a risk for children and the organisation.

“If a victim focus doesn’t apply to child sexual abuse victims, it is hard to see where it does.”

In 2023-24, 55% of all sexual offences recorded by the PSNI in Northern Ireland involved children under 18 years old.

The report said that inspectors were concerned that the PSNI’s response to children who were reported missing was “not adequate”, especially for children living in care.

Ms Durkin also said there were “significant gaps” between the partially and achieved recommendations and the level of progress criminal justice organisations believed they had made against the inspection recommendations compared to inspectors’ assessment.

She said: “It is disappointing that positive progress noted in 2020 had not been sustained and inspectors found very real and worrying signs that resource pressures were influencing policy and practice, rather than a more timely and proactive response in the best interests of the child.

“I hope the findings of this follow-up review encourage criminal justice leaders in the DoJ, the PSNI and other criminal justice organisations, to fully implement all the accepted recommendations and continue to work with partners to address the ongoing challenges in tackling child sexual exploitation, improving outcomes and protecting our children from harm.”

In a statement the PSNI welcomed the review and said the force is “fully committed to improving how we identify, safeguard and protect vulnerable children, especially those who go missing and are at risk of exploitation”.

Detective Chief Superintendent Zoe McKee, head of the Public Protection Branch, said the PSNI takes the concerns raised in the report “extremely seriously”.

She added: “Any instance where a child does not receive the service they deserve is unacceptable and we are accelerating work to deliver a more trauma-informed and risk-led approach.”

She said the PSNI have taken steps to strengthen their response to child sexual exploitation but “recognise there is more to do”.

A spokesperson for the Department of Justice said the report provided “valuable insights” in “helping us further address the challenges of this complex crime”.

The spokesperson added: “The report will make a significant contribution to ongoing efforts to combat this deeply concerning issue.

“While most of the findings relate to operational matters for PSNI and PPS, the department will continue to work in close partnership with criminal justice partners and wider stakeholders to review the report’s findings and take forward any necessary actions including strengthening the strategic monitoring arrangements across the criminal justice system as appropriate.”