The Metropolitan Police has begun reviewing 9,000 cases of child sexual exploitation, following a national report that revealed widespread failures in identifying and tackling group-based abuse.
The reinvestigated cases span a 15-year period and include intra-familial abuse, peer-on-peer exploitation, institutional cases, and incidents that do not fit the typical profile of so-called grooming gangs.
The force said it is determined to revisit past allegations amid growing evidence that child exploitation is more organised, prevalent and underreported than previously acknowledged.
The review follows the National Audit on Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation, led by Baroness Casey, which exposed inconsistencies in how the Met and local authorities recorded abuse.
The June report also found that agencies had shied away from discussing the ethnicity of offenders, contributing to gaps in understanding and prevention.
In a statement on Saturday, Scotland Yard described group-based exploitation as particularly insidious and said it had significantly strengthened its approach since 2022, including specialist training for 11,000 frontline officers and expanded child exploitation teams.
The force said it had tripled the number of cases solved in the past year, leading to 134 additional suspects being charged.
A spokesperson for London Mayor Sadiq Khan said the review was made public at the mayor’s insistence for full transparency, adding that victims had been “woefully let down” by authorities meant to protect them.
The Met said its commitment to safeguarding children and bringing offenders to justice is absolute.
