'I saved all my clothes I was raped in but the police lost them and said it was my word against his': Shocking claims of Rotherham sex abuse gang victim whose parents sent her abroad when authorities failed to protect her
- Emma, now 24, says she was told by police case wouldn't make it to court
- Schoolgirl was 'raped once a week, every week' by gang still walking streets
- Paedophiles threatened to gang rape her mother - so she kept going back
- Scroll down to hear audio of her ordeal in her own words
A 13-year-old schoolgirl 'raped once a week, every week' by an Asian gang from Rotherham saved the clothing she was abused in and handed it to police but they lost the evidence and encouraged her to drop the case, it emerged today.
Emma was forced to drop the charges after officers told her it was 'her word against theirs' and it was unlikely her attackers would ever end up in court.
After two years of countless rapes her parents, who made persistent complaints to South Yorkshire Police and Rotherham Council, sent her abroad so she could escape her abusers once and for all.
Emma, now 24, was one of 1,400 victims habitually abused by men in the town – almost all of them of Pakistani origin - and many of the paedophiles are still walking the streets, she said.
Police treated the victims with contempt, turning a blind eye to their plight and in many cases holding them responsible.
No officers or council employees have faced disciplinary action.
Emma believes she was initially targeted because she was a virgin and suffered two years of violent sex attacks because detectives refused to protect her.
'They (the gang) started introducing alcohol and soft drugs and then at 13 I was sexually exploited by them', she told the BBC's Today programme.
'I had never had a boyfriend or anything and one man singled me out. I thought we were friends but then the main perpetrator raped me quite brutally in front of a number of people.
'From then on I was raped once a week, every week. Then they made me have sex with whoever who wanted to have sex with me.
'I reported it to police after three months of sexual exploitation started. I'd saved all my clothes I had been raped in and gave it to police as evidence.
‘But they lost the clothing so there was no evidence and said it was my word against his and said it wouldn't result in a conviction or make it to court.
‘The men were parking outside my house and threatening my family and the police said they couldn't offer any protection so I dropped the charges'.
Crimes: Emma was one of 1,400 children from Rotherham abused on an industrial scale in the town, pictured
Emma's case contains a common threat as the majority of the girls suffered vicious threats of violence against them and their families stopped them going to the police.
'I was raped once a week, every week. Then they made me have sex with whoever who wanted to have sex with me. I had no choice because they threatened to get my mum, to gang rape her. They gang raped me why wouldn't they do that to her'
- Abuse victim Emma
Some were ‘doused in petrol and threatened with being set alight, threatened with guns, made to witness brutally violent rapes and threatened they would be next if they told anyone’, the shocking report said.
Emma said 'My sexual exploitation went on until I was 15 as the authorities so my parents decided the best thing to do was move me out of the country.
'What we have heard there are a lot of young people who suffered the same because these people were able to walk the streets and go unpunished'.
She was asked why her parents could not prevent her from leaving the house and falling into the clutches of the sex ring.
She said: ''My parents locked me up as many others did. Locked them in bedrooms and the house to stop them going out. I went out because I had no choice because they threatened to get my mum, to gang rape her. They gang raped me why wouldn't they do that to her. They used to follow her, knew where she went at one time'.
South Yorkshire Police told MailOnlline: 'An initial allegation of rape was made, but later withdrawn. After the complaint was withdrawn, four items of clothing, two coats and two pairs of trousers, could not be found to be returned to the girl. South Yorkshire Police paid £140 to the complainant for the loss of property.
'A second allegation of rape was made in 2003. Police conducted another thorough investigation, a suspect was identified and evidence was presented to the Crown Prosecution Service whose decision it is whether a person can be charged and prosecuted.
'Under previous legislation, a person under the age of 22 had a defence against an allegation of rape if they had reason to believe the complainant was over 16-years-old.
'CPS considered a like submission from the suspect, as well as the evidence provided by the complainant, and decided not to proceed with the case.
'This case has been reviewed by the Force following previous complaints. The allegations were treated as seriously in 2003 as they would be today and disciplinary action was not necessary or appropriate'.
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