Ex-detective: Rochdale abuse investigation 'doesn't go nearly far enough'
A former detective who worked with victims of child sex abuse in Rochdale has told ITV News a review into police handling of the crimes has not gone "nearly far enough".
Margaret Oliver submitted a report to senior officers at Greater Manchester Police a decade ago, detailing numerous allegations about abuse in the town.
An investigation into the force's handling of the claims between 2008 and 2010, published today, found that officers had failed to recognise the "size, gravity and extent" of the abuse and placed too much emphasis on the credibility of victims rather than examining the crimes.
Oliver - who eventually stood down over the inaction - said today that the inquiry should have spanned to 2004 to "at least 2013, maybe even today".
She added that she believes the scale of the crimes in the town were on a similar scale to those seen in Rotherham, where as many as 1,400 children are believed to have been subjected to abuse over a decade and a half.
Oliver also claimed that there had been a failure to record "dozens if not hundreds of crimes" after 2008, and said some offenders had received more minor charges when they should have been charged with multiple rapes.
She also warned that many offenders were still walking the streets despite being known to police.