Who is Sara Rowbotham? How Rochdale local councilor led to exposure of organized s*xual abuse of children

Former health worker Sara Rowbotham is trending in the headlines again after the Greater Manchester Police released a report of Operation Span. The investigation resulted in the conviction of nine men in 2012, who were reportedly operating a child s*xual exploitation ring.

Parhessia Inc states that Sara Rowbotham served as the head of the NHS Rochdale Crisis Intervention Team from 2003 and 2014. She was also selected as an honorary member of the Council of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC).

The police department's review states everything about Operation Span, including its failure to take action at the right time.

The victims were revealed to be young white girls, and around 111 cases were filed where children were also targeted, as per First Post. The review additionally mentioned 96 men who were reportedly considered a risk to children.

Rowbotham's contribution during the operation was appreciated by Mayor Andy Burnham, who is planning to take action against the senior officials who were involved in the cases that happened from 2004 to 2013. According to Sky News, Chief Constable Steven Watson accepted the fact that the Greater Manchester Police could not protect the victims and continued:

"I would never stand here and complacently assert that we are perfect, we are certainly not, and regrettably mistakes our well similarly be made into the future."

Watson added that they have changed their way of investigating such cases and the mistakes they committed in the past helped them to emphasize more on child safety.

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Sara Rowbotham's claims related to children's s*xual abuse were ignored by the authorities

As mentioned earlier, Sara Rowbotham was working with the NHS Rochdale Crisis Intervention Team in 2003, and she found that some young people from Rochdale were being s*xally abused. A few of the victims reportedly spoke to her about the abuse, and she immediately got in touch with the authorities, as per Manchester Evening News.

Sara reportedly started to find any evidence related to the abuse, and the nine men involved in the crime were eventually sentenced in 2012. The men were charged with r*pe and conspiracy to get engaged in s*xual activities with a child, as per BBC. The name of the gang leader was not revealed except that he was reportedly 59 years old.

Before the sentencing, Sara Rowbotham approached the Home Affairs Select Committee, expressing concern regarding the cases since the calls for help were being ignored by the officials. At the time, she said:

"We were making referrals from 2004, very explicit referrals, referrals which absolutely highlighted for protective services that young people were incredibly vulnerable."

The incident was later featured on The Betrayed Girls, a documentary which aired on BBC. Sara Rowbotham also appeared in the documentary, claiming that the authorities were not doing anything. She recalled the entire event and said that child r*pe cases were happening frequently, but the police department and Rochdale Children Services refused to help.

"Everything being done now should have been done then. All it would have taken is the right people actually giving a damn."

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The latest report by the Greater Manchester Police claimed that children's s*xual abuse cases were being reported in Rochdale since 2004, and while they knew about the culprits involved, they avoided any investigation since the victims were not willing to cooperate.