https://www.theguardian.com/politic...g-boy-was-on-panel-advising-on-grooming-gangs
An MP found guilty this month of molesting a 15-year-old boy advised the government on child sexual exploitation while under police caution, the Guardian can disclose.
Imran Ahmad Khan, the then Conservative MP for Wakefield, joined an expert panel offering advice on grooming gangs and went on to contribute to a policy paper entitled “Group-based child sexual exploitation characteristics of offending”.
He attended online meetings with the panel of sexual exploitation experts in July, September and November of 2020. Staffordshire police say he gave a written statement under caution in May 2020 addressing claims he had assaulted a minor.
The disclosures raise serious questions for the government and the Home Office over why he was appointed to a panel addressing child protection while under police investigation.
His involvement on the panel was disclosed publicly by the home secretary, Priti Patel, in December 2020 – a year after his victim said he had told the Conservative party about being abused in his own home.
The latest disclosures about Khan, who was expelled from the Conservatives after his conviction earlier this month, also raise questions for the party, which failed to record and then inform the Home Office about the molestation claims they received in 2019.
A Conservative party spokesperson said: “We have found no record of this complaint.”
A Home Office spokesperson said that neither Patel nor the Home Office were aware of the claims against Khan before they were made public in 2021.
“In his role as an MP, Mr Khan was asked along with several others to peer review a Home Office research paper. The Home Office was not aware of the allegations against him at the time and he no longer has any involvement with the department.”…
An MP found guilty this month of molesting a 15-year-old boy advised the government on child sexual exploitation while under police caution, the Guardian can disclose.
Imran Ahmad Khan, the then Conservative MP for Wakefield, joined an expert panel offering advice on grooming gangs and went on to contribute to a policy paper entitled “Group-based child sexual exploitation characteristics of offending”.
He attended online meetings with the panel of sexual exploitation experts in July, September and November of 2020. Staffordshire police say he gave a written statement under caution in May 2020 addressing claims he had assaulted a minor.
The disclosures raise serious questions for the government and the Home Office over why he was appointed to a panel addressing child protection while under police investigation.
His involvement on the panel was disclosed publicly by the home secretary, Priti Patel, in December 2020 – a year after his victim said he had told the Conservative party about being abused in his own home.
The latest disclosures about Khan, who was expelled from the Conservatives after his conviction earlier this month, also raise questions for the party, which failed to record and then inform the Home Office about the molestation claims they received in 2019.
A Conservative party spokesperson said: “We have found no record of this complaint.”
A Home Office spokesperson said that neither Patel nor the Home Office were aware of the claims against Khan before they were made public in 2021.
“In his role as an MP, Mr Khan was asked along with several others to peer review a Home Office research paper. The Home Office was not aware of the allegations against him at the time and he no longer has any involvement with the department.”…
