On August 8, 2025, the National Crime Agency (NCA) officially took over a harrowing investigation into allegations that former South Yorkshire Police (SYP) officers sexually abused children in Rotherham. This dramatic shift follows years of mounting evidence, survivor testimony, and calls for transparency after it emerged that some of those sworn to protect children may have been among their abusers.
The allegations, first brought to wide public attention by the BBC in July 2025, stem from the accounts of five women who were exploited by grooming gangs as children in Rotherham during the 1990s and early 2000s. They claim that, in addition to abuse by grooming gangs, they also suffered sexual abuse at the hands of SYP officers. One survivor recounted being raped from the age of 12 by a serving officer in a marked police car. She said the officer would threaten to hand her back to her abusers if she did not comply—a chilling detail that underscores the depth of betrayal experienced by these children, according to the BBC.
South Yorkshire Police initially began investigating the claims, but soon faced fierce criticism and calls to step aside. Survivors, their advocates, and legal representatives argued that the force’s involvement—given its own officers were under suspicion—posed a grave conflict of interest. Professor Alexis Jay, who led the landmark 2014 inquiry that exposed the scale of grooming gang offenses in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013, told the BBC she was "shocked" that SYP was investigating its own former officers. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp echoed these concerns, stating, "It would be completely inappropriate for the same force accused of abuse to now be investigating itself."
Under mounting public pressure and in the interest of transparency, SYP requested the NCA take over. Assistant Chief Constable Hayley Barnett explained, "Concerns around the mode of investigation have put the force, not the survivors, at the centre of the narrative—this is not acceptable. The decision to hand over this work to the NCA is simply the right thing to do." She further acknowledged, "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."
This latest investigation falls under Operation Stovewood, the NCA’s broader, long-running inquiry into non-recent child sexual abuse in Rotherham. Operation Stovewood has already secured convictions against 47 offenders, resulting in more than 1,300 years of collective prison sentences for child sexual exploitation crimes committed in the town between 1997 and 2013. The new focus, however, is both more sensitive and more explosive: it centers on the alleged complicity and direct involvement of police officers themselves.
Three former SYP officers have been arrested so far in connection with these allegations. Survivors have described a climate of fear and intimidation, with officers allegedly wielding their authority as a weapon to silence and control victims. According to survivor testimony reported by the BBC and echoed in an open letter from survivor advocates, victims were threatened, dismissed as "child prostitutes," or outright ignored when they tried to report abuse. The sense of betrayal is profound—these were not faceless predators, but uniformed officers entrusted with safeguarding the very children they allegedly abused.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) retains overall direction of the investigation, even as the NCA now leads the operational work. The IOPC insists there was "no conflict of interest with SYP" but agreed that transferring the investigation to the NCA "may provide further reassurance to victim-survivors." Still, some survivor advocates and legal representatives remain uneasy. Switalskis, the law firm representing several survivors, welcomed the NCA takeover as "a step in the right direction" but expressed ongoing concern about the IOPC’s role. In a statement, Switalskis said, "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, the IOPC’s earlier investigation into SYP’s handling of child sexual abuse cases, concluded in 2022 that the force had "fundamentally failed" in its duty to protect vulnerable children and young people. The failures were not mere oversights, but systemic and, at times, wilful. Officers were found to have dismissed credible reports, mishandled evidence, and, in some cases, protected themselves or their colleagues instead of the children at risk.
Philip Marshall, head of Operation Stovewood at the NCA, pledged that the agency would "continue the extensive work" begun by SYP, but with a new focus on independence and survivor support. "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," he said.
The wider context is grim. The Rotherham scandal is not isolated; similar patterns of institutional failure, victim-blaming, and abuse of power have been identified in other UK police forces, including the Metropolitan Police and Greater Manchester Police. The Casey Review and other inquiries have documented a policing culture that, for years, tolerated misogyny and ignored credible allegations of abuse. In Rotherham, the line between protector and predator was, for some, erased entirely.
Survivors and their advocates have issued a public call for full independence of the investigation, protection for whistleblowers, trauma-informed justice for survivors, and sweeping structural reforms. They demand mandatory retention of police records for at least 30 years, regular independent audits, and enforceable disciplinary consequences for officers who fail in safeguarding duties. As their open letter starkly put it, "The era of 'lessons will be learned' platitudes is over. Survivors will judge your commitment not by words, but by whether abusive officers are charged, tried, and, if guilty, imprisoned, and whether the systems that enabled them are dismantled."
For now, the NCA’s takeover represents a crucial, if overdue, step toward restoring trust and centering survivors in the search for justice. South Yorkshire Police continues to urge anyone with information—recent or historic—to come forward, offering multiple avenues for reporting, including local Sexual Assault Referral Centres, the IOPC, and Crimestoppers’ Police Anti-Corruption and Abuse Reporting Service. Yet the shadow of past failures lingers, and only time will tell if this new investigation can finally deliver the accountability and change that so many have long demanded.
In Rotherham, the question is no longer just why the police failed to stop the abuse—but how many were part of it, and whether the system itself can ever truly be reformed.