Former Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) head Sir Keir Starmer has faced criticism over his handling of grooming gang cases during his time as Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) between 2008 and 2013. Multi-billionaire Elon Musk recently accused Prime Minister Starmer of being “deeply complicit” in mass rapes by failing to deal with the issue.
The row centers on high-profile cases involving groups of men, mainly from Pakistani descent, convicted of sexually abusing and raping predominantly young white girls in various UK towns. At least 1,400 children were subjected to appalling sexual exploitation in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013, according to a report by Professor Alexis Jay.
While Starmer has defended his record, critics argue that the CPS “bear a great deal of responsibility” for failures in addressing the issue. A former detective who campaigns for victims of child sex abuse said that while there is more awareness now, individual cases still suffer from massive failures in the systems.
Starmer has claimed to have improved the treatment of victims within the criminal justice system and revised guidance on child sexual exploitation in 2013 to make future prosecutions easier. However, critics argue that he oversimplified the issue and did not address the root causes.
The CPS has faced criticism for decisions not to prosecute cases due to perceived issues with victims’ credibility. A report by Professor Jay found that police often cited the CPS as unwilling to prosecute alleged perpetrators, but the agency later acknowledged its role in systemic failures.
While Starmer’s time as DPP saw a peak number of child sex abuse prosecutions in 2010-2011, critics argue that specific data on grooming gang cases is limited and not publicly available. A recent report by the National Police Chiefs’ Council found that 5% of child sexual abuse crimes were group-based, but more specific figures were not disclosed.
The Prime Minister’s record on prosecuting grooming gangs remains under scrutiny, with some arguing that he did little to address the issue during his time in charge of the CPS.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgn2wvxx5qo