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British investigators have identified "a significant number of potential offenders" in a probe into the child sexual abuse scandal in Rotherham, Britain's National Crime Agency (NCA) announced Wednesday.
The investigation, code-named "Operation Stovewood", began in December last year when the exposure of widespread organized child sexual abuses in Rotherham of South Yorkshire shocked the whole nation.
It has been estimated that around 1,400 children had been sexually abused in the town between 1997 and 2013.
"An examination of the material reviewed by Operation Stovewood so far has identified a significant number of potential offenders. The current figure is in the low hundreds," the NCA said in a statement.
NCA Director Trevor Pearce, who is also officer in overall command of Operation Stovewood, said the first stage of the investigation was nearing completion.
He added that investigators had undertaken a massive information gathering exercise during the past six months, with information from South Yorkshire Police, Rotherham Council and other individuals and agencies.
The NCA had 47 boxes of written material from a local youth organization Risky Business alone, containing nearly 1,500 files and the content of each has been reviewed and is now being indexed, read, assessed.
"This will enable us to identify links to information from other sources and within other investigations. Last week alone, we took possession of a further 45 boxes of material that will also now be assessed," Pearce continued.
"The information established from these reports will form part of the investigation and it will be some time before we are able to put a more precise figure on the number of people who have been involved, directly or otherwise, in the grooming and sexual exploitation of children," the officer further explained.
Steve Baldwin, Senior Investigating Officer for Operation Stovewood, said more than 3,300 lines of enquiry had already been identified for the investigation.
"The abuse that has taken place in Rotherham is horrific. We have gathered a huge amount of information which details some very disturbing events," Baldwin noted.
"Work to identify all victims of non-familial CSEA (child sexual exploitation and abuse) in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013 is ongoing," he said, adding that previous estimate of 1,400 victims "remains a very good assessment."
The NCA is working with South Yorkshire Police, Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council, local health agencies and others to tackle past non-familial CSEA in Rotherham.
With 32 officers currently working on Operation Stovewood, the number is expected to increase in the coming months to meet the needs of the investigation, the agency said. Enditem
