I met Professor Jay after her report came out because, given her extensive experience, we want to get as in-depth an understanding as we can of what she uncovered and then try to put that into the context of what is happening in Scotland based on an in-depth understanding of how the Scottish system works. She has acknowledged that the relationships between the police and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and the police and the Crown Prosecution Service in England and Wales are very different. That might answer in part some of that question.
However, the fundamental point is that we cannot be reassured that child sexual exploitation is not going on just because there is no prima facie evidence of it being reported to us. We are increasingly aware that we will only find out when we proactively go looking for it. We have been doing that and a number of operations are in progress that have been in the public domain to a greater or lesser extent because of the interagency activity that has led to them. Although I cannot give precise details as some of the prosecutions are in progress, some of the on-going activity is evidence of the increasingly proactive approach that we are taking.
The other question that I have been asked a lot since Rotherham—I hope that it is helpful to relay this—is whether “Rotherham” is happening in Scotland. Colleagues, leaders in other partnership organisations and elected members find that to be an appealing question to ask and to understand. The answer that I give is, “Well, that depends what you mean by ‘Rotherham’.”
The report goes beyond implication and describes a clear history of victimisation and abuse. It is a troubling and traumatic journey for the reader, never mind those who experienced the victimisation and the abuse, which is eloquently described in a concise report that covers a lot of ground. It is clear that there was such a large amount of information about the scale and prevalence of what was going on in Rotherham that so many people knew about.
The report implies that there were active efforts for a long period to suppress that information. If the question is whether that is happening in Scotland, the answer is absolutely not. Absolutely no information has come to my attention about any large-scale or extensive co-ordinated group that is conducting child sexual exploitation on the scale that was described in that report. If it had, we would be conducting investigations.
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However, if the question is whether there is child sexual exploitation in Scotland’s towns, cities and rural areas, the answer is yes. We know that there is because we are investigating it—successfully in many cases—and we increasingly understand that the way to approach those investigations is by working more closely in partnership from the outset, making sure that there is strong, consistent and effective support in place for the victims, to enable them to understand and provide an account of what has happened to them, with the hope and expectation that we can bring that into the justice system, although the primary focus must be on the interests of the child.
One of the on-going operations that I mentioned is an example of that. Operation dash is a widespread operation focusing on a premise of child sexual exploitation in the west of Scotland. Fifty-five crimes have now been recorded under that operation, against 22 different accused persons. Twenty-three reports, which is a large number, have been submitted to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, and some of those cases are in train. As I mentioned in my submission, one of those accused persons is due to be sentenced tomorrow in a case that includes a section 1 grooming offence.
The other charges that are being preferred include nine rape charges, five other sexual assault charges and various sexual coercion charges, as well as various other non-sexual but violence-related offences. I am not able to go into more detail about those cases, but details will unfold on a case-by-case basis. It is important to highlight the strength of the efforts that have gone into tackling cases based on the information that we receive.