A new report has revealed that multiple failures at a local council led to two children being sexually abused.
Two practice review reports have since been written by Northamptonshire Safeguarding Children Partnership (NSCP) after concerns were raised about the way the cases were dealt with.
One incident occurred when the council failed to identify the risk of child abuse in a known offenders extended family. The offender has since been jailed for rape.
The child, known as Child Bk was abused after their mother had a relationship with someone, known as Person C, whose son, Mr. D, was known to have downloaded child abuse images.
Mr. D was released on police bail with the condition he lived with his parent (Person C) and had no unsupervised contact with children.
However, none of the agencies involved in the case made the connection between Mr. D and Child Bk’s relationship.
Mr. D’s electronic devices were on a waiting list to be examined for child sexual abuse images, and it was confirmed in December 2021 that this had been the case. According to the report, this was around the same time he started sexually abusing Child Bk, aged 11.
Concerns were raised about the contact between Child BK and Mr. D in June 2022, but no strategy meeting was carried out.
Police instead went to Child Bk’s home and spoke to her. During that time, they recorded that there were no safeguarding concerns and Child Bk and Mr. D were “like brother and sister”.
However, less than a year later in January 2023, Child Bk shared information that she was being sexually abused, and Mr. D was eventually jailed for rape.
This is not the only case involving missed opportunities under Northampton Council. This week, another Child Safeguarding Practice Review was published in relation to Child BM.
Although the details of the case have not been outlined, improvements to the services have which include the following:
- Professionals did not use the full range of support options available to them which resulted in a missed opportunity to better understand the risks to Child BM and the support available (if for example, the Child Sexual Exploitation Toolkit had been used).
- Ongoing consideration should be given as to how professionals engage with absent fathers/stepfathers who have been significant in a child’s earlier life
- Concerns for a young person should always be escalated (if appropriate) to allow multi-agency consideration and planning of a support offer
Helen Adams, who chaired both panels on behalf of the NSCP, said:
“These are distressing cases and no child should have to suffer this kind of abuse.
“These two reviews have certainly identified where changes can be made and we have already started working with all agencies concerned to improve our approach.
Julian Wooster, from the county’s Children’s Trust said:
“Keeping children and young people safe is at the heart of all we do, and we acknowledge the failings highlighted in these reports and have already implemented some of the recommendations.”
Det. Supt. Joe Banfield, from Northamptonshire Police, said:
“In the case of Child Bk, the force took swift action to arrest and charge the perpetrator.
“We recognise there were failings on a number of fronts and the report makes clear recommendations as to how these can be addressed.”
Molly Frost, our Abuse Claims Solicitor said:
“As lawyers specialising in civil claims for compensation for abuse, it is particularly concerning to hear about this case. Historically claims could be brought where a child had suffered abused in similar situations and there was evidence that the local authority acted negligently.
“Whilst it is still possible to bring such a claim, recent court rulings have made it much more difficult and have significantly narrowed the categories where compensation will be awarded against the local authority.
The possibility of civil actions is one of the things that helps keep local authorities in check. If there is a risk of being sued it is likely that public authorities will take greater care or ensure that procedures are in place to minimise the chances of them making mistakes and errors or failing to take action when they should”.
Further reading
Sexual abuse – abuseclaims.co.uk
Civil abuse claims – Oakwood Solicitors
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