Rotherham child sexual exploitation scandal

Uncommon card · No. 81777

From the late 1980s until 2013, group-based child sexual exploitation affected an estimated 1,400 girls, generally from care home backgrounds, in the town of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. Between 1997 and 2013, girls were abused by grooming gangs predominantly consisting of men of Pakistani heritage. Researcher Angie Heal, who was hired by local officials and warned them about child exploitation occurring between 2002 and 2007, has since described it as the "biggest child protection scandal in UK history". In July 2025, investigations were being carried out into allegations that police officers had also raped child victims. Evidence of the abuse was first noted in the early 1990s, when care home managers investigated reports that children in their care were being picked up by taxi drivers. From at least 2001, multiple reports passed names of alleged perpetrators, several from one family, to the police and Rotherham Council. The first group conviction took place in 2010, when five...

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