Leader – Foster care sex child abuse scandal demands policy review

To judge a society, examine how its most vulnerable are treated. That seems like a truism but it bears repeating. It is the reason why child abuse is so disturbing.

Sexual abuse and exploitation of children are crimes the scale of which seems enormous. From the Rotherham scandal to abuse in the Catholic church (see the oscar-winning film Spotlight), no place or demographic is immune.

Hackney is no different. Some will recall the Mark Trotter scandal. He was a social worker and political activist who was about to be arrested by police over allegations of sex abuse when he died of an AIDS-related illness in 1995.

It is thought he abused several children in his care during his career in Hackney from 1981 to 1993.

Another awful case involved a man who was allowed to foster 30 children in the borough before he was discovered to have raped and sexually assaulted five schoolgirls in his care between 1998 and 2005.

Alarmingly, the head of the borough’s safeguarding board, Jim Gamble, has now warned that similar abuse could be happening right now under the radar of foster services.

A former senior police officer, Gamble says crimes committed against the five girls could have been prevented had police shared with the council details of anonymous allegations that the man possessed child abuse images.

Gamble wants the National Police Chiefs’ Council to review its policy in this area, but it has refused.

This is baffling. Police policies on forces sharing information like this with other agencies should be reviewed – particularly as police are keen on having other agencies share similar information with them.

When allegations remain unproven, a balance must obviously be struck between the rights of individuals against whom claims are made and issues of public protection – but in terms of fostering, it seems obvious the safety of children is paramount.

Gamble thinks there are flaws in the current system, and given his expertise people should be inclined to listen.

Related: NSPCC criticises police over Hackney foster care child sex abuse