Missing teen's mum wants grooming gangs inquiry

The mother of a 14-year-old girl believed to have been murdered more than 20 years ago is calling for a set of localised inquiries into grooming gangs to include her town.

Police have said Charlene Downes, who was last seen on 1 November 2003, was one of a number of girls who were sexually exploited in Blackpool.

The teenager's mother Karen Downes said she was "living in limbo" and wanted justice for her daughter, who has never been found.

Blackpool Council leader Lynn Williams said the council had been "successfully tackling the risk of child sexual exploitation in the town since 2004 when the multi-agency Awaken task force was set up".

Williams said young people needed "action" adding: "That is why we encourage the government to implement all the recommendations of the previous inquiries and to give us the resources so that no children are left at risk of exploitation in Blackpool or in any other town and city in this country."

The Home Office has said there would be five government-backed local inquiries into grooming gangs, although only Oldham has so far been confirmed as a location.

The hunt for Charlene has been one of Lancashire Police's longest-running missing person inquiries.

Thousands of people were spoken to by officers and almost 7,000 statements were taken.

In 2008, a man who ran a local takeaway was cleared of Charlene's murder when a retrial collapsed due to a judge's "grave concerns" about the evidence.

The first trial had ended when a jury failed to reach a verdict.

The then Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said at the time that police errors in gathering evidence had contributed to the second trial's collapse.

Charlene's mother said: "It would mean everything to get answers as we live in limbo, especially if it helped get justice for Charlene and all the other girls affected by grooming gangs."

Ronay Crompton, founder of the Justice for Charlene Downes campaign group, said a charter in the teenager's name had been developed detailing a safeguarding framework specifically for coastal towns.

"We believe Blackpool and similar areas have deep-rooted child sexual exploitation issues that aren't being properly addressed," she said.

Last month, councillors debated whether to call on the government to hold a full national inquiry into child grooming gangs, including Blackpool.

Blackpool Borough Council heard that the resort had many of the risks associated with the exploitation of children, but the motion was not passed.

On 16 January, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced a "rapid national audit" of child grooming cases as well as five localised inquiries - but stopped short of ordering a statutory national inquiry.

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse set up in 2015 and chaired by Professor Alexis Jay had already carried out 15 investigations, including into grooming gangs and abuse in schools and church settings.

Blackpool Council has welcomed the government's decision to implement the recommendations made by the report when it was published in 2022.

However, Ms Crompton said: "The report recommendations won't go far enough because they don't take into account the unique challenges coastal towns face."

The case also attracted the attention of billionaire Elon Musk, who used his social media platform X to criticise the government and called for a national, statutory inquiry into child sexual exploitation.

This included retweeting posts about Charlene, and her mother said she was "grateful" for any attention brought to the case.

There is a £100,000 reward on offer for information leading to a conviction in the case.

Lancashire Police said inquiries into Charlene's disappearance were ongoing and urged anyone with information however "insignificant" to get in touch.

Karen Downes says her family "cannot move on with our lives" and remained determined to get answers.

"We are hoping the inquiry would finally bring someone forward to finally end our nightmare, and give Charlene the justice that is rightfully hers," she said.

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