A schoolgirl who was repeatedly raped by five men was “disappointed” by authorities who were “more concerned about covering up their failures,” according to a report. Opportunities were also missed to bring her perpetrators to justice, and council and police chiefs tried to deny they were wrong when they approached six years later to apologize, the report added. Her case, which began in 2006, is part of an independent report on child sexual exploitation in Oldham, which has found serious failures by both the Oldham Council and the Greater Manchester Police (GMP). However, she was only included after “Sophie” wrote an open letter to the then chairman of the council Sean Fielding asking to be included, after years of denying that mistakes had been made. The 202-page report examines historical allegations of child sexual exploitation in Oldham. Sophie was just 12 years old when she was abducted from Oldham Police Station after she bravely told police she had been attacked. She was then raped for several hours by five different men – but despite the schoolgirl giving a full description of her abuse, only two arrests were made. The report on historical abuse found that the intervention of the council and the GMP was “far below” what was required. He added that the denials of any injustice done to Sophie by the authorities led to “the impression that they were both more concerned about covering up their failures than about acknowledging the damage done”. Maggie Oliver, who helped Sophie get her story critically acclaimed, said there was a concerted effort to silence her. He added: “The review shows that the GMP and the Professional Standards Agency have repeatedly and deliberately concealed the truth about its case and its unauthorized investigation for more than 15 years. “Oldham’s council has repeatedly stated that it had contacted Sophie in connection with the review, but this was not true. “Just because I was already supporting Sophie, she contacted me and my Foundation in despair. “I immediately approached the review team and that is the only reason its story was revealed. Otherwise it would have remained hidden again, despite Sophie’s 15-year struggle to get to the truth.” In 2019, Sophie wrote an open letter to the head of the Oldham Council, copying to Andy Burnham, alleging rape, “a large-scale care business” and apologizing for what she thought was a “cover-up”. The report said: “There have been significant opportunities missed by the social welfare of children to intervene and implement appropriate arrangements to protect Sophie. “We believe that the interventions of both the council and the Greater Manchester Police went far beyond what was required to protect Sophie at the time, and these failures were exacerbated by subsequent denials to Sophie and fuel the view that “Both services are more concerned with covering up their failures than acknowledging the damage done to a vulnerable young person.” Oldham Council leader Amanda Chadderton “wholeheartedly” apologized for the mistakes. How did Sophie’s case develop? Sophie first contacted social services in 2006, where she told support assistants that she was “talking to older men online.” There were “at least” two cases where safeguards should have been initiated, which may have protected Sophie from “predatory males who ended up abusing her,” the report said. Despite being shown to be sexually active, she was never referred to the police and nothing was documented – something the report’s authors described as a “significant deficit”. Sophie had to fight for her story to be included in the report, as she was constantly fired by both the council and the police. Sophie was groomed by an elderly man, Paul Waites – named Offender E – in online chat, which led to his sexual assault and rape. But despite Sophie’s numerous admissions to social workers about the relationship, there was no follow-up to evidence that there was a risk. Weitz, who was in his 30s at the time, was a serial pedophile. He was jailed in 2009 for possessing indecent images of children and in 2015 he was convicted of raping Sophie and sentenced to 11 years in prison. In 2020, the former teacher was sentenced to life in prison for sexually abusing another girl in 2005. The report added that if further action had been taken against Waites, it could have “prevented any further offenses committed by perpetrator E against children”. As Sophie tried to report Weitz to the police, officers fired her and told her to “watch again. [the station] with an adult when she was not drunk “. But as she was leaving, she was hit by a car by 39-year-old Shakil Chowdhury and taken to a house where she was raped by five men for several hours. She was sexually assaulted in a car before being left near a park and raped at the home of Sarvar Ali’s man, who had asked for instructions. Sophie was then picked up by a man posing as a taxi driver named Shakil Chowdhury, who had promised to help her. Only Chowdhury and Ali were ever arrested, with Chowdhury jailed in 2007 for six years after pleading guilty to six counts of rape. Ali was accused of fleeing the country. During his trial, Chowdhury named two other men involved in Sophie’s rape as part of his mitigation, but they were not pursued by the GMP at the time, the report said, calling it “another serious failure.” The report points out that GMP has repeatedly failed to explore research lines in relation to other men, each, the authors say, has been a “serious failure”. Wider Manchester Police Chief Stephen Watson said: “I want to extend my sincere apologies to all those affected by the events under investigation. “Our actions were far from the help they had every right to expect and were unacceptable. “I’m sorry for the trauma and the continuing trauma they have suffered because of what happened to them.” Do you want a quick and specific update on the biggest news? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out what you need to know
