Cumbria Constabulary have made an arrest after a Facebook post alleging serious sexual abuse and physical violence against a teenager.
Cumbria Constabulary has today issued a video statement in which they say an individual has been charged and denied claims of a grooming gang being involved.
Detective Chief Superintendent Dean Holden, Head of Crime and Safeguarding at Cumbria Constabulary, said:
“I am doing this release in response to some recent Facebook posts alleging serious sexual abuse and physical violence against an individual.
First of all I have to start by saying that in Cumbria we take any such reports extremely seriously and have a very robust response.
What I can say about this specific scenario is is Cumbria Constabulary have been undertaking an operational investigation for nearly 12 months – dedicated at looking at specific allegations of abuse.
That investigation has a dedicated investigative team, a senior investigation officer and significant constabulary resources and finances committed to it.
As a result of that investigation, I can say an individual has been charged with offences.
I have to be very careful what I say about that because i don’t want to undermine any judicial processes.
What I can say is that investigation was subjected to an independent peer review in March this year.
That review was conducted by subject matter experts nationally – qualified and experienced in investigating sexual abuse physical violence.
Whilst that review did give us some minor recommendations, the outcome was the investigation had been conducted with the utmost integrity, transparency and professionalism
And more importantly, our safeguarding approach had been robust and professional.
What I would say is when the question is asked, ‘Is there an organisation of Asian men in Barrow conducting abuse and exploitation against individuals?’ – our investigation has shown that has not been corroborated…
What I would say is here at Cumbria Constabulary we are not complacent.
Lead Correspondent | David Clews is the Lead Correspondent for UNN, with over 20 years of political/campaigning experience and a wealth of social media and communication skills David gets to the heart of what is really important to the real people of the UK.
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