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Rotherham child sexual abuse investigation extends to former senior command team

Factual summary of a published IOPC investigation, covering the incident, key findings and outcome.

All IOPC reports
Published
2018-07-10
Investigation type
independent
Force involved
South Yorkshire Police

What was investigated

Our operation looking into South Yorkshire Police’s response to non-recent allegations of child sexual abuse (CSA) in Rotherham will investigate the actions of the force’s former senior command team. The investigation follows a complaint referred to us by SYP regarding the failure of senior officers to protect children between 1997 and 2013.

Key findings

  • The investigation concerns the former senior command team's response to CSA allegations.
  • The main allegation is a failure to protect children between 1997 and 2013.
  • Reports highlighting CSA were allegedly shared with the senior command team.
  • Thirty-three officers are currently under notice of investigation.
  • Operation Linden is ongoing and estimated to produce around 84 individual reports.
  • A full review of Operation Linden has been conducted with 106 case references.
  • Some investigations have been linked together or discontinued.
  • The aim is to produce an overarching report compiling key findings.

Outcome

The investigation is ongoing with the aim to ensure a thorough examination of the allegations against the senior command team.

Read the full report on policeconduct.gov.uk

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Reviewed by the BlueLineHub Editorial Team
Last reviewed: 13 July 2026 · Next review due: 13 January 2027

This is a factual summary of a report published by the Independent Office for Police Conduct. Individuals are referred to exactly as the source report anonymises them. BlueLineHub is independent and not affiliated with the IOPC · Summarised 2026-07-13.