Organised syndicates of sex attackers are surfing the internet to arrange meetings with each other and identify potential targets
Facebook rape gangs are targeting vulnerable children at sickening house parties where victims are chosen from a menu-style list, a shock report revealed yesterday.
Thousands of youngsters are being preyed on by organised syndicates of sex attackers who surf the internet to arrange meetings with each other and identify potential targets.
A girl called Teegan, not her real name, says she was taken to houses from the age of 13 and raped by several men.
She said they selected girls from a book showing their photographs and ages and in some cases put film of the vile attacks on the internet.
Last night Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the evidence was “deeply disturbing” and should act as “a wake-up call to the Government and other agencies that urgent action is needed”.
She added: “It is clear that the police, local authorities, health services, schools and other organisations must do more but the Government has to take responsibility for making sure it happens.”
The interim report by the Office of the Children’s Commissioner showed 2,409 children were victims of sexual exploitation in England in the 14 months up to October 2011.
But this was described as the “tip of the iceberg” by a children’s charity, with the true figure being much higher.
The inquiry highlighted two distinct forms of attack by predatory males.
It said street gangs of young men were linked by criminal backgrounds and used weapons and drugs to subdue victims.
But, in a sinister new development, it also identified groups which involved males aged anything from 14 to 70 who trawled Facebook and other sites to link up with each other and groom vulnerable children before taking them to parties to be raped.
Sue Berelowitz, deputy children’s commissioner who is leading the inquiry, said: “There are menus of girls.
“Males select whether they want a 12-year-old girl, a 13-year-old girl and children are then transported to so-called parties where men will go and rape them and money will change hands.”
She added: “If the recent allegations against Jimmy Savile are true, a conspiracy of silence allowed him and those who acted with him to continue to rape children with impunity for decades.
“It is too easy to simply blame the BBC as if what happened was entirely due to a failure in one organisation.”
Peter Davies, head of child protection for the Association of Chief Police Officers and chief executive of Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, described the findings as “horrendous”.
He added: “Two years ago these crimes were largely hidden.
“Since then much has happened at Government, policing and partner agency levels to improve responses. There is much more to do.”
The report was published in the wake of the scandals in Rochdale and Rotherham which revealed that gangs of Asian men targeted white girls.
And last night police said eight Asians had been arrested in High Wycombe, Bucks, in connection with alleged sex attacks on a 12-year-old girl.
The report said out of the 1,514 attackers of the 2,409 children, 415 were Asian.
But Ms Berelowitz emphasised victims and attackers came from various ethnic backgrounds.
The report said agencies like social services, the police and teachers should look out for signs that could identify a child as being sexually exploited.
These include going missing from home or care, estrangement from their family, self harm and changes in appearance.
Investigators partly blame the internet for warping the minds of young men with violent images of extreme pornography and the report said further research will be carried out into it.
Child care expert Professor Jenny Pearce, of the University of Bedfordshire, helped compile the report and said: “Our interviews with children living in gang-affected neighbourhoods across England leave us shocked by the extreme levels of sexual violence that are assumed to be inevitable in the everyday lives of the children concerned.”
NSPCC chief executive Andrew Flanagan called it a “terrible problem” and Barnardo’s boss Anne Marie Carie said: “It is imperative all victims are identified and all young people are protected from this horrific crime.”
A Facebook spokesman commented: “Unfortunately, these disgusting individuals exist in our society and, on rare occasions, on Facebook.
“However, no service has done more to seek them out, remove their content, and help bring them to justice than Facebook.
“We have a zero tolerance policy for child exploitative materials on the site and when such illegal behaviour is detected Facebook works with law enforcement agencies to ensure that these people are brought to justice.”
The inquiry was set up by the Government last year and its full findings will be published by autumn next year.
‘Men paid £500 an hour to abuse me at rape parties’
Aged just 13, Teegan* was ferried to parties held at “nice houses” or “mansions” across England by a Turkish man who had befriended her – then forced to have sex.
Recounting her ordeal, the report says: “Teegan would be raped by several men from a range of ethnicities who were paying to use her.”
Teegan, a white British girl, also described a book passed round her abusers which contained photographs of girls and their ages.
“Teegan reported men paying those who were exploiting her up to £500 for an hour with her,” the report continues.
“Groups of men could also request one girl to share between them over a night where the rape of the girl would be filmed.”
If Teegan refused to comply she would be beaten and her family threatened.
Following the abuse, she took several overdoses, was placed in secure accommodation and self-harmed on a daily basis.
“Teegan described the abuse that she experienced as serious and organised and is unwilling to make a formal complaint for fear of repercussions from those involved in the operation,” the report states.
Another girl, Marina*, 16, was sexually assaulted along with her 14-year-old sister in public but also in private homes.
She was sexually exploited by white shop owners who would ply her with booze and cigarettes.
She told investigators that men on the street would pick them up and abuse them in alleyways.
She also tells of being driven to parties where she would be raped by men before being dropped home.
* Names have been changed to protect their identities.
‘Explain what you’re doing to stop these abuse parties’
Social networking sites were last night urged to explain what they are doing to stop abuse parties being arranged online.
Labour’s Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk called the reports “disgusting” adding: “It is this type of shocking detail which exposes the magnitude of the problem.
“They are children for God’s sake. This is a wake-up call for the whole country – for Parliament, for the police and for the public.”
Shadow Children’s Minister Lisa Nandy also piled on the pressure.
On evidence phones, texts and Facebook were being used to coordinate attacks, she said: “Companies such as Facebook and other social media should be called before MPs to explain what they are doing to stop this happening.”
And Ann Coffey, chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Missing and Runaway Children and Adults, said there was “no excuse” for children’s homes, the police, schools or other agencies “downplaying” the significance of children repeatedly going missing.