A Long-Overdue Reckoning: The Rochdale Grooming Verdicts

In a stark reminder of how abuse can hide in plain sight, seven men have been handed lengthy prison sentences ranging from 12 to 35 years following a trial at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court on historic sexual exploitation in Rochdale.  

Between 2001 and 2006, the convicted men preyed upon two vulnerable teenage girls (referred to as ‘Girl A’ and ‘Girl B’ in the proceedings), luring them in with money, alcohol, food and gifts, while grooming them into a cycle of abuse.  

They forced the girls into situations of sexual violence in filthy flats, parked cars, alleyways and disused buildings.  The trial exposed not just the perpetrators’ depravity but also glaring institutional failures, as warnings were ignored, social workers misclassified victims and various agencies failed to intervene in time. 

The victims’ impact statements described how their lives were shattered. One victim remarked that the abuse had touched every part of her life, from her relationships to her health, even how she views herself.  The other victim stated she had long believed that “every man I came into contact with would expect sex”, such was the distortion of her sense of self that the abuse had enforced. 

The ringleader, known locally as “Boss Man” received the longest term, being sentenced to 35 years behind bars.  He was convicted of raping Girl A and Girl B on multiple occasions and was also found guilty of procuring a child to have sex and indecency with a child. Other sentences ranged from 12 year to 29 years.

Whilst no sentence can undo the damage, this verdict is a step toward accountability. Yet it also raises a pressing question: how many more victims remain unheard? 

This case is part of Operation Lytton, an ongoing police investigation launched in 2015 into historic child sexual exploitation in Rochdale, with a total of 37 individuals being charged so far, with more trials to come. 

The Rochdale convictions send a powerful message that time is no barrier to justice, but the work must not end here. Systems that failed these girls must be reformed, victims must be believed, and communities must stay vigilant. Trust must be rebuilt, but not just in institutions, but between survivors and society.