POLICE are investigating “several” new cases of sexual exploitation of children and young people as one victim told The Argus of her ordeal.

Police revealed they had new cases under way following the conviction of four men in March for prostituting a 16-year-old girl, the first case of its kind in Sussex.

The force’s most recent published figures found that around 100 Sussex youngsters were at risk of exploitation, based on data from police records of missing and found children and information from other agencies.

Helen O’Brien, co-ordinator of the Wise Project in Brighton, a charity service for 13 to 25-year-olds at risk of sexual exploitation, said there was an “increased awareness of the risks and a responsibility to respond appropriately”.

She added: “Professionals across sectors are learning how to modify their approach to very vulnerable young people who disclose sexual exploitation and are moving away from the ‘victim blaming’ that has been such a prominent feature of cases where abuse has been managed so badly.”

But, she warned, efforts to provide a cohesive response were “difficult when budgets are being cut across sectors and vital funding for development work in child sexual exploitation just isn’t there presently”.

Sussex Police has created a new post dedicated to tackling child abuse and making sure different agencies have the same information, funded by a grant from the Ministry of Justice via the police and crime commissioner.

Ms O’Brien said more boys and men were being referred for support, noting this was “encouraging” given the “traditional and damaging misconception that sexual exploitation only happens to girls”.

She added: “This has been a barrier to boys feeling like they can disclose abuse and also to them being able to recognise when it is happening. It is important to highlight that there are many forms that sexual exploitation can take and is not as narrow as groups of men exploiting young girls from socially deprived backgrounds.”

The internet had made things worse, she added, by creating new routes for abusers to meet victims.

Superintendent Jason Tingley said: “Child sexual exploitation is child abuse, pure and simple. It is perpetrated against young men and women irrespective of background.

“What makes it so difficult to tackle is the fact that many young people who are being abused believe they are in a consensual relationship. They simply do not recognise the true nature of their abusers, who exploit their vulnerability.

“However, we are making progress in this difficult and sensitive area, working with our partners in the local authorities and support groups.”

Faces of four men who tried to prostitute teenager

IN MARCH, four men were found guilty of trying to force a vulnerable teenaged girl into prostitution.

Christopher Kayla-Joseph, 27, of Elphick Road, Newhaven, met her on the street after she had run away from home, and took her back to his flat.

He slept with her and gave her drugs and alcohol in the days before taking her to the home of Mohammed Kamali, 46, in Harper Road, Newhaven.

There she was raped by Khosrow Sobhanieh, 56, of North Lane, Guestling, and sexually assaulted by Stephen Daramola, 48, of Park Lane, Eastbourne.

It was the first conviction in Sussex under the charge of conspiring to arrange the prostitution of a child and was seen as a landmark case.