Teachers, carers and cops who turn a blind eye to vicious grooming gangs face jail under new plans

TEACHERS, social workers and police face jail if they turn a blind eye to grooming gangs under plans being unveiled today.

They are being targeted by Home Secretary Suella Braverman in a crackdown on those who fail to protect children.

It comes after the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse heard testimony from thousands of victims let down by professionals.

Under the latest proposals, professionals with “safeguarding duties“ will face a range of punishments if they fail to report abusers targeting children in their care.

They could be barred for life from working with youngsters or, in the worst cases, sent to prison.

Ms Braverman said: “The protection of children is a collective effort. Every adult must be supported to call out child sexual abuse without fear.

“That’s why I’m introducing a mandatory reporting duty and launching a call for evidence.

“We must address the failings identified by the inquiry and take on board the views of the thousands of victims and survivors who contributed to it.”

And she hammered home her point this morning on Sky News with Sohpy Ridge as she claims “political correctness” is to blame for child sexual abuse signs being overlooked.

Ms Braverman said: "We’ve seen institutions and state agencies, whether it’s social workers, teachers, the police turn a blind eye to these, to these signs of abuse out of political correctness, out of fear, of being called racists, out of fear, of being called bigoted.

"What we’ve seen is a practice whereby vulnerable, white, English girls, sometimes in care, sometimes who are in challenging circumstances, being pursued and raped and drugged and harmed by gangs of British-Pakistani, men who’ve worked in child abuse rings or networks."

The Home Office is also providing an extra £600,000 to the NSPCC ­whistleblower helpline, launched after the Rotherham grooming gangs inquiry.

The police and council failed to act over fears of being branded racist.

Ministers will also speed up the process that the public can use to find out if someone they know is a child sex offender.

Known as Sarah’s Law in memory of eight-year-old Sarah Payne, murdered by a previously convicted sex offender in 2000, the process will be made easier and police will have to hand over info quicker.

Her mother, Dr Sara Payne, said: “There is always more to do. This is an historical ‘turning point’ day today for child protection and I for one, ­sincerely welcome these much-needed changes to Sarah’s Law 2023, as we all know keeping up with ‘sex offenders’ is and will never be ‘enough’.”