Most grooming gang offences carried out by white men, not Pakistanis: UK police chiefs

• UK police say 85% of abusers are white.
• NPCC data reveals 3.9% Pakistani offenders.
• Focus shifts from family, institutional abuse.

LONDON: The vast majority of sexual grooming gang offences are carried out by white men, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) has said — after X billionaire owner Elon Musk published several posts making false accusations against British-Pakistani men.

New figures from the police database show that, where ethnicity data was available, 85% of “group-based” child abusers were white in the first three quarters of 2024. The same data for the whole of 2023 showed 83% of offenders were white.

Richard Fewkes, the director of the NPCC’s Hydrant programme targeting child sexual abuse, said there is no “significant issue” with “any particular ethnicity or setting”.

Fewkes’ comments come after billionaire Elon Musk used his social media platform X to wage an online campaign against the UK government over the issue of grooming gangs, making hideously false allegations against Prime Minister Keir Starmer who had actually ensured that the grooming gang offenders are prosecuted and punished for their crimes when he was the head of Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) at the height of grooming gangs scandal involving Pakistanis, Asians and White men.

The billionaire has falsely accused the prime minister of being “complicit in the rape of Britain” over his record as a former director of public prosecutions, and called safeguarding minister Jess Phillips a “witch” and a “rape genocide apologist”.

Speaking at a press briefing on Friday, Fewkes said: “(The data) reflects what you would expect to see across the country in terms of ethnicity. Offences where grooming gangs are involved are predominantly white. There is not a significant issue here with any particular ethnicity or setting.”

The NPCC said the data, collated in this way for the first time, will now be used to inform the training of new officers and help chiefs at a “force-based level”.

“The data we collect now is a starting point,” Fewkes said.

In recent days, the online and political debate has seen calls for an inquiry into child rape by Pakistani men, with Reform UK leader Nigel Farage demanding a probe into “to what extent were gangs of Pakistani men raping young white girls” and several right-wing, anti-Muslim, anti-immigration figures making false and incorrect accusations against the whole Pakistani community.

In 2023, the largest proportion of child sexual abuse suspects was white, accounting for 1,884 (83%), followed by 62 Pakistani suspects (2.7%), the NPCC’s data shows.

From January to September 2024, there were 1,623 (85%) white suspects, and 75 Pakistani (3.9%), the data shows.

When data on abuse in institutions, such as within schools, churches and children’s homes, and offences committed within a family are removed, the figures for “group-based” child sexual exploitation show that in 2023, there were 224 (70%) white grooming gang suspects, compared with 22 Pakistani (6.9%).

From January to September 2024, there were 144 (63%) white suspects, and 31 (13.7%) Pakistani.

But the data is incomplete, as the NPCC said the information on ethnicity was available for only 34% of suspects in the whole of 2023 and for only 39% of suspects in the first nine months of 2024.

The NPCC added: “Quarter four 2024 is not included in 2024 data as it is still being worked on.”

Fewkes said the focus on the issue of grooming gangs in recent days had turned attention away from other areas of child sexual abuse, including that carried out within a family.

It's important to address "all the threats from all races and ethnicities", warned Assistant Chief Constable Becky Riggs, the National Police Chiefs' Council's lead for child protection and abuse investigation.

The recent debates on Pakistani grooming gangs have "marginalised victims", said Assistant Chief Constable Becky Riggs, the NPCC's lead for child protection and abuse investigation.

The officer said that based on the recent focus on grooming gangs of one ethnicity, victims of other types of sexual crimes might feel "their type of crime is less valid".

She said: "We need to make sure people of all types of crime feel heard."

ACC Riggs also said recent headlines will have caused "victims to relive their crimes", and that it's important to address "all the threats from all races and ethnicities".

The police have released their data in the wake of heated debate in the House of Commons over whether there should be a national statutory inquiry into Pakistani grooming gangs.

Gabrielle Shaw, chief executive for the National Association for People Abused in Childhood, who also attended the news conference, said: "The weaponisation of people's trauma is reprehensible.

"Someone's trauma should not be used to score political points, or as clickbait."

Grooming gangs are behind two child sexual abuse offences reported to police every day, The Telegraph recently reported.

The analysis reported by the newspaper said there were 4,228 offences of “group-based” child sexual abuse, which made up 3.7% of the 115,489 child sexual abuse and exploitation crimes, including those online, in 2023.

Musk’s barrage of fake news attacks against the prime minister have dominated Westminster over recent days and led Sir Keir to accuse critics of spreading “lies and misinformation” by the tech billionaire.

He has defended his tenure as director of public prosecutions and claims he tackled child sexual abuse charges “head-on”.

The Conservatives accused Labour MPs of having “turned a blind eye to justice” for victims of grooming gangs after their amendment to the Government’s child protection Bill calling for another national inquiry was rejected, while Musk described it as “unbelievable”.