Senior police officers should be prosecuted for mishandling a Greater Manchester sexual abuse scandal that resulted in most offenders getting away with their crimes, a whistleblower has said. Margaret Oliver, a former detective constable who led Greater Manchester police’s investigation into child sexual exploitation, said the force had spent years trying to cover up its failures. The Guardian revealed on Tuesday that up to 52 children may have been victims of the sexual abuse ring. Operation Augusta was shut down prematurely partly because senior officers had prioritised solving burglaries and car crime. The Greater Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham, who commissioned the review, said he had raised the findings of an inquest into Victoria’s death with the attorney general because he felt “uncomfortable” that they did not raise failures of authorities to safeguard her.

Source: The Guardian January 14, 2020 15:49 UTC