Cambridgeshire Police did not act on child sex abuse images, says report

Inspectors said 13 of 24 child protection cases they audited at Cambridgeshire Constabulary were inadequate

A police force failed to act six months after it "became aware" that a married father-of-two possessed at least 17 serious child sexual abuse images, inspectors have said.

They found there had been "no activity" from Cambridgeshire Constabulary to safeguard his children or make an arrest.

The case was referenced in a child protection review of the force.

The force insisted it was committed to safeguarding children.

His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) carried out its four-day post-inspection review in September, following an initial inspection in July 2021.

Inspectors said the force was aware in March 2022 of the male suspect with "at least 17 videos of the worst category of child sexual abuse" who lived with his two young daughters.

They said that six months later, nothing had been done to safeguard the children, search the home or arrest the suspect.

In response, a spokesman for the police told the BBC: "The example quoted in the report was assessed by specially trained officers using a nationally recognised framework. We have spoken to partners in social care about the case and it is being regularly monitored, with the risk repeatedly evaluated.

"Since March we have received a high volume of similar referrals and each one has to be assessed on a case by case basis.

"Our resource must be prioritised to the highest risk situations. Where we assess a child is at imminent risk of contact offending we will always act immediately to safeguard them."

'No progression'

In the report, inspectors said recording of police protection powers, managing of registered sex offenders and information sharing with frontline staff had improved.

However, they were "concerned" about the constabulary's response to children at risk of online sexual exploitation and said 13 of 24 child protection cases they audited were inadequate.

They said they found 47 cases of people sharing abuse images that "hadn't progressed in the past year".

"The identities of possible suspects remain unknown when they needn't be," the report said.

"Unless possible suspects are identified, officers can't assess their access to children, whether they are in a position of trust, or the level of risk they pose."

Cambridgeshire Police was criticised for keeping children in custody after they were charged, rather than passing them to the local council

They also said that one officer, who was tasked with investigating 62 cases, did not have the accredited training for the role.

The report noted improvements in handling domestic abuse cases but that extra information was often not obtained from local authorities.

It picked four of five domestic abuse cases where child witnesses were not spoken to, because they were at school or unavailable, which "means children's experiences aren't understood".

Inspectors said they were "encouraged" that officers now wore body-worn cameras attending domestic incidents.

The report criticised the force for keeping children in custody after being charged, instead of being released for alternative accommodation.

"This has a traumatic impact," said inspectors.

"Children are therefore exposed to the sights and sounds of adults being detained around them."

Ch Supt John Massey said more needed to be done with investigations where children may be at risk of online sexual exploitation

The report also included praise for officers.

One four-year-old girl was placed with foster carers within three hours of police being told the father had threatened to kill her, and after deciding the mother was not fit to care for her either.

"We found the team members we spoke to were committed," it said.

"They have to examine indecent images, read graphic descriptions of abuse and interview people who are actively sharing sexual abuse images."

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Inspectors said the force had a backlog of 300 cases waiting to be uploaded to the national child abuse database of images.

Cambridgeshire Constabulary's Ch Supt John Massey welcomed the report and said the force had created new domestic abuse and safeguarding teams that worked alongside organisations in health and social care.

"This has led, for example, to a large increase in protection orders for vulnerable people," he said.

"We acknowledge we need to do more to prioritise investigations where children may be at risk of online sexual exploitation, together with more consistency in our response when children are reported missing and finding children who are charged with an offence alternative accommodation after they are released from custody."

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