152 new reports of child sexual exploitation made in South Yorkshire - ethnicty of suspects revealed
152 reports of child sexual exploitation were recorded in South Yorkshire over the last year, according to new figures.
South Yorkshire Police shared the statistics as part of a new Public Scrutiny Board meeting this week.
The meetings replace the Public Accountability Board meetings and see senior police officers present progress reports and answer questions submitted in advance by members of the public, with Wednesday’s (September 10) being the first ever held.
Alongside answers to questions about stop and search, hate crime, and the delivery of services to victims from minority ethnic groups, police provided an update on violence against women and girls, plus child sexual exploitation (CSE).
CSE hit the headlines in 2014 when a damning report laid bare the scale of the issue in Rotherham.
Professor Alexis Jay's investigation found that at least 1,400 children were abused in the town by men of predominently Pakistani heritage between 1997 and 2013 while authorities, including Rotherham Council and South Yorkshire Police, failed to act.
This week, Chief Constable Lauren Poultney said: “The South Yorkshire Police of today, 2025, has transformed its approach to CSE since 2010.
“We work with our partners at both the tactical and the strategic level to identify risk, safeguard the vulnerable before harm occurs, and tackle offending – with all agencies committing dedicated and highly-trained resources. CSE investigations are subject to rigorous scrutiny at every level throughout the force and in partnership settings, locally and nationally.”
Data shared during the meeting shows that police responded to 152 recorded cases of CSE between August 2024 and July 2025, with 102 being described as ‘non-group based’ while 50 involved groups.
The crime made up 4.6 per cent of all child sexual abuse (CSA) reports.
CSA covers a wider number of crimes involving engaging children in sexual activity, while CSE refers to taking advantage of a young person’s financial or emotional needs for sexual gain.
Suspects of CSE were mostly white and male, with all suspects related to online CSE being white.
Suspects of group based crimes followed this trend, with the ‘defined ethnicity’ described as Asian in three cases, black in three and white in 11.
There were 11 cases of online and 17 cases of non group based SCE where suspects were identified as female.
Meanwhile victims of CSE were largely female and white, with only two male victims recorded for group based exploitation.
Most victims were aged 12 to 14, though victims of online and non-group based CSE saw higher number of victims aged 15 to 17.
There was one report of a victim of group based CSE aged under four.
Data suggests victims are reporting crimes quicker than before, with 52 per cent of incidents in 2024 described as ‘recent’ - reported within 14 days - 26 per cent were ‘delayed’, reported within a year, and 22 per cent ‘non-recent’, reported after a year.
This is a major change to 2020, where 51 per cent were non-recent, 10 per cent delayed and 39 per cent recent.
However, those under 17 were most likely to commit CSE online and in non-group based situations, with suspects in that age range being identified in 12 and 22 cases respectively.
Indecent image cases have been on the rise, with 487 investigations in 2023, compared to 711 in 2024 and 681 after only seven months into 2025.
‘Sextortion, live streaming and use of Artificial Intelligence’ were all identified by police as ‘constantly evolving threats’ in digital spaces.
Details were also included about the structure and governance within the force and partner agencies, the strategy which informs how they prevent and respond to CSE, and the next steps.
Notably, next steps included fully implementing recommendations of a 2025 national audit on 'grooming gangs' carried out by Baroness Casey, which include improving consistency, investing in further training, disrupting offending, and building public trust and confidence.
Detective Chief Inspector Scott Harrison said: “Whilst we already publish information on our website each year about the profile of child sexual exploitation in South Yorkshire, we are conscious that our communities actually want to know how we are set up to prevent and respond to CSE in 2025 and how we plan to evolve our service to ensure it remains fit for purpose in future times, when the method of operation changes. Today’s meeting was a valuable opportunity for us to talk through some of that and offer reassurance.
“In an ideal world, no young person would be at risk of child sexual exploitation, nor would they ever come to harm. Sadly, this risk and harm remains present in localities across the country.
“However, data is reassuring about the approach we are taking in South Yorkshire.
“In the last 12 months, our safeguarding activity has exceeded our criminal investigations – as we are intervening earlier. Reporting insights also indicate that the trust and confidence of survivors to report to police has started to improve since 2020.
“Regardless, there will always be work to do to improve our prevention of and our response to CSE.”