THE mother of one of Jake Ormerod's victims spoke today of the trauma her family had suffered and labelled the abuser as 'scum'.
She says her daughter is still coming to terms with her involvement with him and has urged those children who are victims to come forward and tell police.
And she revealed how she was initially made to feel like she was to blame by police officers who told her a strict curfew she had imposed had caused her daughter to runaway.
She said: "I am glad he is locked up. He started the exploitation of young girls years ago – he then worked over the next few years to groom vulnerable young girls and he has perpetuated this grooming."
She said her daughter only ran away once from home and said the professionals needed to learn lessons when dealing with such cases in the future.
She said: "When I picked her up from the station I was appalled at her behaviour after the police had picked her up. I was told that sanctions I had imposed — to be home by 9pm — were too tight and that perhaps if those sanctions were not so strict then she would not have run away.
"This made me feel disempowered as a parent and I feel that the police were stereotyping me.
"Young girls can be vulnerable for many reasons — maybe it's just a time in their lives where they are insecure about how they look – perhaps it's a home issue such as their parents are splitting up – for whatever reason he has 'cherry-picked' these girls because they are vulnerable and he has gone on then to sexually exploit them.
"He has pretended to befriend them, shown them kindness and that he is a really decent gentle guy – he isn't.
"Some people excuse him because he may have not had the best upbringing – it is not excusable. Whether you groom girls over the internet or through a social situation you are still targeting girls who are vulnerable for whatever reason in their lives.
"So what do I think of Jake Ormerod? I think he is scum."
The mother says police first contacted her daughter in January to ask about Ormerod as part of Operation Mansfield.
She said: "They wanted to know who she knew – Ormerod was one of those people she knew.
"I became aware of what at happened at that point. She told me there was drink and drugs involved. When I asked if there was anything sexual she said no – we have open conversations in our house and this was a difficult conversation to have.
"She has since said that it was because of shame that she didn't tell me and that she felt responsible for it.
"I think now she is on the mend but she was in a very dark place. She had to revisit situations, emotions which took her to a very dark place."
She says families from all levels of society can be affected by the activities of people like Ormerod and it was important for people not to assume it only concerned the 'lower classes'.
She said: "When we hear about sexual exploitation we can all be guilty of stereotyping the sort of family that these things happen to as the lower social classes or just from the lower classes of society but I have learned through the people I have met throughout this investigation that it doesn't matter. This happens throughout all levels of society. I would say to other parents not to be complacent. Just because you may not fit in to that stereotype don't think it cannot happen to you. I can affect any family."
And she says it is up families and the authorities to be vigilant and support victims of abuse who speak out.
"It is a traumatic journey but you can come out the other side – just because Ormerod has been sentenced our journey is not yet over – we have a lot left to deal with as a family but I would say to any young person out there whether it is to do with this operation or not, they're to come forward.
"We can never stop these things happening but we can minimise the risks. If people have the courage to come forward they will be supported and dealt with sensitively. Any support you need is provided. We have had a huge amount of support from those agencies involved in Op Mansfield."
The mother said she believes positive changes are being made as a result of the major investigation.
"I do think that improvement is coming," she said.
"There is reassurance out there that things are changing and that has to be the one positive message from Operation Mansfield. Things will change. Not just for the children out there, who are being sexually exploited, but the families out there need to be more aware that these things are going on. I'm not advocating locking up your daughters but we all need to be so vigilant."
A police spokesman said of the criticisms levelled at them: "We fully accept that the way we used to police missing persons was not always appropriate. Through Operation Mansfield we are learning lessons through experience and changes have already been made."
Article Source KBG Test Blog (http://rc.kbg.me)
