A TEACHER'S claims that children are being ‘trafficked’ from North-East towns for sexual exploitation have been supported by Barnardo’s.

Martin Burnett, assistant headteacher at Acklam Grange in Middlesbrough said he knows that youngsters were being moved out of the Middlesbrough area for sex.

He was following up remarks he made in a council scrutiny report on child sexual exploitation (CSE) that it was a “growth industry” in the town and a problem his secondary school was tackling head on.

“Children in Middlesbrough are the subject of sexual exploitation, it is a growth industry,” he said. “I know from speaking to other agencies that trafficking is happening here, kids are being trafficked from Middlesbrough and no one particular nationality is being targeted."

Wendy Shepherd, Barnardo’s Children’s Service Manager in the North-East confirmed to The Northern Echo that children were being moved around the North-East to be exploited by people via a network of friends.

“Children could be taken to a party where the expectation from those men there is that they are going to have sex with those children or a boyfriend could take his ‘girlfriend’ to a friend’s flat where she is expected to sleep with his mates," she said.

“We have been working in the area of Child Sexual Exploitation since the 1990s in Middlesbrough, I don’t think it’s getting worse but facilitating it is getting easier for perpetrators because of social media."

Mr Burnett stressed that none of the children trafficked were from his school although some pupils have been victims of exploitation.

He added that it was important to work with other agencies including Barnardo’s and its SECOS (Sexual Exploitation of Children On the Streets) programme.

“We just see it from a school point of view at the coal face. We have teams of people who work with young people who could be victims on a one to one basis.”

“We cannot bury our head in the sand. We have been named as being at the forefront in the recent Middlesbrough Council report but this CSE is not an Acklam Grange issue, it’s a Middlesbrough issue. This has not come about because of what’s happened in Rotherham, our work was happening months before that.”

The Protecting Children from Sexual Exploitation final report produced by Middlesbrough Council’s Community Safety and Leisure scrutiny panel revealed that a Vulnerable, Exploited, Missing and Trafficked (VEMT) group has been established.

It is currently monitoring 42 youngsters but during the past year that figure has been as high as 68.

Mark Braithwaite, independent chair to the Middlesbrough Local Safeguarding Children Board said: “CSE is very much on our radar across the Tees area at the moment. It is about education, supporting victims through the VEMT group and police intervention.

“I am not complacent, it is something we know is going on and it’s on our radar to ensure that the risks of it happening is as low as it can be,” added Mr Braithwaite who launched the Say Something If You See Something” campaign this summer.

It aims to educate the public of tell-tale signs such as youngster being picked up or dropped off at an address suspected of being used for prostitution or knowledge of taxi drivers exchanging rides for sexual favours.

A spokeswoman for Cleveland Police added: “We are actively seeking to increase our intelligence and understanding of CSE including any incidents where children are transported or moved to other towns.

“We will take robust action and work with partner agencies and other police forces when we receive information of this nature to ensure a prompt response to safeguard children.”