Messenger leads fight

‘FANTASTIC’: what Michael Jameson, Oldham Council’s executive director of children’s services, said of the Messenger partnership

CHILD-SEX exploitation is rife in Oldham with police dealing with 26 individuals in the past 12 months.

A dedicated police squad - Operation Messenger - is battling a dark underworld of child rape and abduction in the borough.

The team of officers, with Oldham Council, social workers and specialists from children’s charity Banardos came together in 2006 to tackle the problem — but insist child-sex exploitation occurs all over the UK.

Police revealed to the Chronicle that in many of the local cases they have dealt with, the young people do not see themselves as victims. Drugs, money or housing could be received in exchange for sex.

Michael Jameson, Oldham Council’s executive director of children’s services, said: “The Messenger partnership is a fantastic example of how different organisations can help prevent children from being the victims of sexual exploitation. We have achieved real progress in children’s lives.

“This type of offending is about older men taking advantage of vulnerable young people for their own sexual gratification.”

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