Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA), often referred to as the country’s equivalent of the FBI, has officially assumed control of a high-profile investigation into allegations that South Yorkshire Police officers sexually abused children in Rotherham during the 1990s and early 2000s. The move, announced on August 8, 2025, comes after mounting concerns about conflicts of interest and a lack of trust in South Yorkshire Police’s (SYP) ability to investigate its own former officers. For survivors and advocates, the transfer marks a significant—if overdue—shift in the pursuit of justice for victims of historic abuse.
The case centers on disturbing claims from at least five women who, as children, were first exploited by grooming gangs in Rotherham and then, shockingly, abused by those meant to protect them. According to the BBC, these women provided harrowing accounts of sexual abuse by officers, including one who described being raped from the age of 12 in a marked police car. The officer, she said, threatened to return her to the gang if she didn’t comply. Another survivor, using the pseudonym Willow, told the broadcaster she was sexually abused by hundreds of men over five years, including two police officers. “He knew where we used to hang out, he would request either oral sex or rape us in the back of the police car,” she said. “In a world where you were being abused so much, being raped once was a lot easier than multiple rapes and I think he knew that.”
These revelations have shaken the community and further damaged the reputation of South Yorkshire Police, already under scrutiny for its handling of child sexual exploitation cases. The force initially began investigating the allegations, but quickly faced calls to step back. As Assistant Chief Constable Hayley Barnett explained, “Concerns around the mode of investigation have put the force, and not the victim survivors, at the centre of the narrative, and this fails to align with a truly victim-centred investigation.” She added, “I am also mindful there is a chance that some victim survivors may be suffering in silence and unwilling to make a report as a result of SYP’s involvement.”
The NCA’s Operation Stovewood, a decade-long inquiry into non-recent child sexual abuse in Rotherham, will now lead the investigation. Operation Stovewood has already identified more than 1,100 children involved in exploitation in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013. Philip Marshall, head of Operation Stovewood, promised to keep victims at the heart of the process: “The National Crime Agency will ensure that victims remain at the heart of this investigation, as we continue the extensive work that South Yorkshire Police has begun. Though our investigation will be independent of South Yorkshire Police, we will work closely with the force and the Independent Office for Police Conduct to ensure that victims receive the best service and support as the investigation is transferred to us.”
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which had been overseeing SYP’s investigation, acknowledged the growing unease. Director Emily Barry stated, “Victim-survivors are always at the centre of our investigations and it’s extremely important that they have trust and confidence in the investigation. We recognise the concerns that have been raised by some about SYP investigating serious complaints relating to former SYP officers and we want to ensure that any victim-survivors feel able to come forward with complaints about former SYP officers.” The IOPC and SYP jointly decided to ask the NCA to take over, with the IOPC continuing to direct the investigation.
Three former South Yorkshire Police officers have so far been arrested on suspicion of historic sexual offences, including attempted rape, indecent assault, and misconduct in public office while on duty. None have been charged to date. Among those named in survivor accounts is PC Hassan Ali, who died in 2015 after being hit by a car on the day he was suspended over alleged misconduct. Campaigner Sammy Woodhouse, herself a survivor and key figure in exposing the Rotherham scandal, told the Daily Mail she had named Ali as an abuser back in 2013.
The transfer to the NCA has been welcomed by survivor advocates and legal representatives, though not without reservations. Switalskis, a law firm representing many of the survivors, called the move “a step in the right direction.” In a statement, the firm said, “We are pleased that SYP has decided to hand the investigation into allegations of child sexual abuse, corruption, and the facilitation of abuse by former SYP officers to the NCA. However, we remain concerned that the investigation is still being directed by the IOPC, given the concerns raised by whistleblowers in relation to Operation Linden earlier this year. Nevertheless, we view this as a step in the right direction and hope that more survivors will now feel able to come forward to the NCA.”
Operation Linden, an earlier IOPC investigation concluded in 2022, found that South Yorkshire Police had fundamentally failed in its duty to protect vulnerable children and young people during the period under investigation. Many survivors and advocates had hoped that alleged abuse by officers would have been uncovered then, but those hopes were dashed. As the law firm Switalskis lamented, “For years SYP resisted our requests for an investigation into the alleged criminality of police officers, despite us providing them with the accounts of survivors. Those that have suffered abuse in Rotherham have no faith that SYP will do a thorough job of investigating alleged abuse by their own officers.”
Professor Alexis Jay, whose 2014 landmark report exposed the scale of Rotherham’s grooming gang crisis and found that at least 1,400 children were abused over 16 years, said she was “shocked” that the force was initially investigating its own former officers. She told the BBC there were “legitimate” reasons for victims to feel “a total lack of trust” in the force. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp echoed this sentiment, stating, “It would be completely inappropriate for the same force accused of abuse to now be investigating itself.”
The accounts collected by specialist child abuse lawyers paint a devastating picture: girls, some as young as 11, being preyed upon by those in uniform. Amy Clowrey from Switalskis, who has been gathering survivor testimony, said the stories of police preying on grooming victims were “beyond belief.” She added, “There has been no accountability in the town—and without accountability, there will continue to be a distrust of South Yorkshire Police.”
The impact of the scandal has been profound, not just for the survivors but for the wider community. South Yorkshire’s Mayor Oliver Coppard weighed in, saying, “Victims and survivors should always be our priority. They deserve to feel heard, believed, and supported, and they must have confidence in the people and systems that are there to make sure justice is done.”
As the NCA moves forward with its investigation, the hope among survivors, campaigners, and the public is that this new chapter will finally deliver the justice and accountability that has eluded Rotherham for far too long. The scars of the past are deep, but with renewed independence and a victim-focused approach, there’s cautious optimism that more survivors will come forward and that the truth, however painful, will be fully brought to light.