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Robert Jenrick, the former immigration minister and current Tory leadership contender, has advocated for stricter penalties for grooming gang members. Jenrick argues that members of these gangs, responsible for heinous acts of child sexual exploitation, should face whole life sentences, ensuring they never walk free again. He believes the current maximum sentences for crimes involving group-based child sexual exploitation and sexual assault are insufficient and should be replaced with a minimum whole life term for convicted offenders. This change would mean life imprisonment without the possibility of release.

 

Currently, under the 2003 Sexual Offences Act, the maximum sentence for grooming is a minimum of 14 years. However, some members of grooming gangs receive much lower sentences, sometimes as little as four years, even for horrific crimes such as raping girls as young as 13. Jenrick finds this disparity unacceptable and calls for a more severe approach. 

 

In addition to advocating for harsher prison sentences, Jenrick proposed automatic deportation for non-British offenders involved in grooming gangs. He also suggested criminal penalties for public officials who fail to report these crimes and the introduction of permanent electronic tagging for any offender released from prison. Jenrick expressed his belief that victims of grooming gangs in places like Rotherham should be consulted about the creation of a monument in their town. He believes such a memorial would serve as a lasting reminder to the nation of the injustices suffered by victims and the failure of authorities to protect them.

 

"The dedicated grooming gangs task force led to the arrest of over 550 suspects in a single year," Jenrick noted, referencing measures introduced by former Home Secretary Suella Braverman. While he acknowledges this as a positive step, Jenrick feels it is not enough. "Anyone who thinks these crimes are no longer happening is delusional. That view, sadly widespread across the most powerful people in Britain, is condemning more working-class girls to these savage and life-ruining crimes."

 

Jenrick stressed that the issue of grooming gangs is still prevalent today, citing findings from the Telford Report, which indicated that this form of exploitation remains widespread across the country. He went on to call the situation "a stain on our nation’s moral conscience," arguing that it is time to take more decisive action. "Anyone who has read the Jay report would support locking up these disgusting predators for life," he said, referring to the 2014 Alexis Jay report, which found that at least 1,400 children were groomed in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013. This number was described as a "conservative" estimate.

 

Jenrick also proposed lifetime bans and penalties for public servants who failed to act on grooming gang crimes. The Alexis Jay report had previously revealed that some public servants refrained from reporting these crimes due to fears of being labeled racist. Jenrick's proposal includes creating a "blacklist" that would prevent any such official from working in the public sector again. He expressed concern that many grooming gang criminals have been released back into the very communities where they committed their crimes, leading to the traumatic situation where victims encounter their abusers in public.

 

To prevent this from continuing, Jenrick proposed permanent electronic tagging for grooming offenders and a lifetime injunction barring them from coming near their victims. In extreme cases, this could even mean barring offenders from living in the same town where their crimes took place.

 

Based on a report from the Daily Telegraph 2024-10-22