Vulnerable girls as young as 14 abused at hotel 'sex parties' in Croydon

Blackmail: Abusers threatened to post sex images of girls on social media

A loose network of "predatory" young men circulated video footage of their teenage victims on social media to blackmail them into sex, with some of the girls manipulated into helping to recruit more young women for abuse.

The "abhorrent" exploitation ring revolved around town-centre hotels and pupil referral units, with the removal of vulnerable young people from mainstream education found to have "facilitated the recruitment" of victims for exploitation by their peers, according to a joint report by Croydon Council, the Metropolitan Police and the National Crime Agency (NCA).

The three organisations launched an investigation - codenamed Operation Raptor - in November 2014 to address a gap in their knowledge about missing Croydon girls.

The operation focussed on 20 girls, all aged between 14 and 18, who were known to authorities and had previously gone missing.

The investigation found no "organised and systemic" child sexual exploitation but learned of a loose gang of abusers, all black males aged between 14 and 25, who recruited girls to abuse.

The gang centred around one kingpin who fraudulently booked town-centre hotel rooms - including at one national chain - using credit cards.

Social media was "a powerful enabler of the exploitation", the report found, with the abusers using sexual messages and videos involving their victims to blackmail them, as well as circulating their phone and Blackberry PIN numbers, email addresses and Twitter user names.

The report added: "The intelligence indicated that two of the young women were involved in recruiting other young women for sexual exploitation.

"The information also indicated that these two young women had themselves been sexually abused/exploited and it was likely they had been groomed in a similar manner by previous 'recruiters'."

Pupil referral units - which educate children excluded from mainsteam schooling - became a "focal point of concern" for investigators.

They found vulnerable young people were "systematically" placed together in alternative education after being removed from school, which "facilitated the recruitment of vulnerable young people by their peers for exploitation".

Of the 20 victims analysed by the investigation, most had been in a "high number" of schools.

Peter Stanley, director of the charity Ment4, which mentors troubled young people, said missing children were often "extraordinarily vulnerable".

He said: "Often these children are from very dysfunctional families and troubled areas.

"The truth is child sexual exploitation is not necessary an older person with a younger person. It can start with peer groups and often young people get confused when it's a peer group exploitation because they just think that's sexual promiscuity, whereas if it's someone older it is more obvious that it's exploitation.

"It's much easier to put pressure on somebody by sending a text than ever it was. But we shouldn't blame it on social media - what it is doing is highlighting the vulnerability of people when that social media is used for ill."

He added: "We need to be able to empower young people, particularly girls, to be able to say 'no'. The difficulty is where you have these young people, because they have very little self-worth, they find it very hard to say 'no' and that's what makes them vulnerable.

"It takes time, it takes getting to know them, it takes building their confidence and helping to build their worth. Because often there has been so much trauma, so much damage done."

All 20 girls involved Operation Raptor have declined to speak to the police and most would not talk to social workers.

Each victim is subject to a monthly social services review and has been offered specialist therapy by Safer London, a charity that supports young victims of crime.

Rebecca Cheshire, deputy chief executive of Safer London, said: "Stories of this kind of abhorrent activity surface with alarming regularity across the UK, and Croydon’s social services teams have been actively working with the local police, our Empower child sexual exploitation service and other key partner organisations to prevent the exploitation of children in the borough."

The council’s licensing team informally reviewed the licences held by the hotels identified in Operation Raptor and is to write to the headquarters of large chains about improving safeguarding and security.

Councillor Mark Watson, cabinet member for communities, safety and justice, said the council would also be asking taxi drivers to be vigilant.

He said: "Being on the lookout for child sex exploitation is something everybody has to be doing, not just social services."

Four people have been arrested by police in relation to Operation Raptor. Two have been released on bail pending further investigation and two have been told they will face no further action.