Grooming gangs continue to pose a threat around the country, but the methods of targeting children are increasingly moving online, says whistleblower Maggie Oliver.
Ms Oliver told LBC's Andrew Marr: "From my experience and the work we do every day, this problem hasn't gone away."
She said children are still being targeted by organised grooming gangs, but the ways the abusers groom children "is now different".
"It's often online because it's safer for them," she revealed.
Ms Oliver's comments come following reports Greater Manchester Police (GMP) is now investigating more than 1,000 grooming gang suspects.
A report by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) claims GMP has made “significant improvements” in how it investigates group-based sexual exploitation of children, or grooming gangs, and other types of child sexual abuse offences.
Ms Oliver slammed the report as she accused the police of "marking their own homework".
She said: "Unfortunately, this report today is not transparent. It's gaslighting the public."
Read more: Starmer U-turns on grooming gangs: PM orders statutory inquiry after Casey report
Read more: Rochdale grooming gang ringleaders 'cannot be deported after tearing up Pakistan passports'
It said police have live investigations into “multi-victim, multi-offender” child sexual exploitation inquiries, involving 714 victims and survivors, and 1,099 suspects.
Ms Oliver told LBC: "I think it's impossible now for the...
CNN — On Friday, before signing his massive domestic policy bill, President Donald Trump proclaimed at the White House that “it’s the most popular bill ever signed in the history of our country,” ...