Members of grooming gangs have been closely linked to more than 150 other criminals, including drug barons and violent offenders, according to new research.
The analysis, titled The Network Map, connects perpetrators of child sexual abuse to protection rackets and other organized criminal activities on a national scale. The project compiles information from police documents, court records, local authority data, and interviews with survivors, journalists, and campaigners. Researchers state it is the most comprehensive compilation of evidence to date on the interconnectivity of grooming gang members.
The research indicates that these criminal activities are occurring in nearly every region of the United Kingdom. The project aims to address shortcomings in previous police data collection, which have been identified by independent inquiries.
An ongoing national inquiry into grooming gangs, announced earlier this year and headed by former children's commissioner for England Anne Longfield, is investigating the operations of these gangs and the responses of public institutions, including police, councils, health services, social care, and schools. The £65 million probe has the legal authority to compel witnesses and request documents.
Evidence uncovered during the inquiry will be referred to Operation Beaconport, a national police operation established last year to review hundreds of closed investigations.
Previous findings, such as an audit by Baroness Casey, have highlighted issues with data collection regarding the ethnicity of offenders. Baroness Casey's report noted that councils, police forces, and the Home Office had at times avoided addressing uncomfortable questions about ethnicity and its role in offending. The report found that ethnicity was recorded in only a third of cases, making it difficult to ascertain national patterns. However, data from police in Rotherham, Greater Manchester, and West Yorkshire indicated a disproportionate number of suspects from Asian ethnic backgrounds in grooming offenses.
The Network Map is said to draw on evidence concerning over 1,000 perpetrators, gangs, families, establishments, and notable individuals, including councillors and police officers. More than 150 of these individuals are reportedly involved in other criminal activities and connected to grooming perpetrators, with direct relationships or links through shared criminal enterprises, family ties, or gang conflicts.
Among the individuals featured is Amar Ilyas, a fugitive convicted of serial sexual offenses against minors. The Network Map reportedly details his connections to organized criminals involved in drug trafficking. Detectives have previously linked an incident where Ilyas was stabbed to a separate shooting connected to drug-related organized crime.