Latest / The Epstein Chronicles / The UK Inquiry Into Grooming Gangs: Sally And Marlon Tell Their Stories (6/23/26)

Transcript

The UK Inquiry Into Grooming Gangs: Sally And Marlon Tell Their Stories (6/23/26) · The Epstein Chronicles

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Speaker 1: What's up everyone, and welcome back to the program. In
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this episode, we're going to pick up where we left
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off with the UK inquiry on the grooming gangs. Sally
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Sally is the mother of a daughter who has found
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guilty of nine counts of perverting the course of justice
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for lying about being groomed by an Asian grooming gang
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and sentenced to eight years in prison. Despite this, Sally
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believes there is evidence to suggest her daughter was a
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genuine victim of the gangs. Sally described as previously stable,
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working family life until housing instability and family stress coincided
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with changes in her daughter's behavior. Doubts the family were
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buying fell through, but they had already moved out of
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their family home and all their possessions were in storage.
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A family friend was able to rent them apart renovated
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property on a short term basis, but it was not
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ideal for a family with four children. It was only
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meant to be temper cory, but the family ended up
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staying there for ten months. Her daughter began making up stories,
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such as claiming that her mother and stepdad were going
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away and leaving her to look after her five year
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old brother at school. This resulted in school involvement in
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their family life. The stresses the household was under led
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the arguments that brought in both the police and Social service.
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After leaving school at sixteen, Sally's daughter began working at
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a local pub. On one occasion, she was invited to
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a party. Sally received a call later that evening from
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one of her daughter's friends saying that her daughter was
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lying on the pavement outside the property. If Sally couldn't
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pick her up, they were going to take her to
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the bus stop and leave her there as she was
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making too much noise. When her mother found her lying
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on the ground, she was making a horrendous whaling sound
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and kept saying not to touch her. Her mother recognized
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that something was seriously wrong and took her to the hospital.
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Sally's daughter told the nurse carrying out the examination that
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she had been sexually assaulted. The hospital notes recorded that
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her genitulia were swollen and read. The hospital reported the
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incident to the police. Sally's daughter then received threats via snapchat,
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became scared about the outcome of the case, and withdrew
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from the process. Around the same time, Social Services closed
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their case on the family. Sally believes her daughter did
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not want to invite more trouble into the household. It
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later emerged in court that they had all been smoking cannabis.
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Sally believes her daughter had participated in that something happened
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to her, but she was found guilty of lying about
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being raped. Sally's daughter then began working as a kitchen
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assistant at a care home and a glass collector at
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a nightclub in addition to the job in the pub.
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After turning eighteen, she was able to work behind the
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bar at the nightclub, where her behavior began to change.
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She would return home with cuts and bruises. On one occasion,
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she can't back with a black eye and said there
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had been a fight in the nightclub and she'd been
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hit accidentally. She appeared more tired and distressed than usual.
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Sally began to notice that her daughter's phone would ring regularly,
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with Asian men appearing on the name screen. When asked
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about them, her daughter tried to hide the calls. The
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bar manager stopped her daughter from working on the main
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floor because she was too small and they struggled to
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keep track of her. They also ensured she was always
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paired with an older member of staff. As the Asian
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men would harass her if she was working alone. One
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Asian man gifted her of gold chain. Sally's daughter began
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saying she wanted to move away from home. She had
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regularly traveled to a nearby town by train. Sally would
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pick her up and drop her off at the station,
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and she never appeared to have been drinking or using drugs.
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One day, Sally returned home to find her daughter had
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left with her possessions and was ignoring her calls. She
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told colleagues that she had moved because her stepfather was
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harming her, but this was not true. After a few
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days of investigation, Sally managed to find where her daughter
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had moved to. When she arrived at the flat, she
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found her daughter with two police officers to whom she
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was reporting an allegation of rape. When her daughter handed
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her phone as evidence, the police found hundreds of messages
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from Asian men they believed she was being groomed. She
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was later found guilty of lying about the rape that
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she had reported. Over the course of the following year,
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Sally reported her daughter missing thirty nine times. She would
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often turn up in various towns across the region, battered bruised,
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intoxicated or on drugs. She was usually without underwear and
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spent increasing amounts of time in the hospital. One police
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force made a referral to the NRM, believing she was
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a victim of trafficking. Another police force repeatedly arrested her
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and seized her phone, which meant the referral agency could
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not contact her as her number kept changing. One incident
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involved Sally's daughter being locked in a room above an
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Indian restaurant, with the man refusing to let her leave.
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The police ignored it, believing she was lying. Another incident
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involved an Asian man following her, trying to grab her
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and take her away. Thankfully, she was with her sister
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and friends, who quickly put her in a taxi and
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sent her home. That same man was later arrested for
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breaking into a woman's house and sexually assaulting her while
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she slept. Nevertheless, the police still insisted Sally's daughter had
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been lying about the earlier incident. The police believed that
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she had mental health conditions and was deliberately self harming
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and putting herself in dangerous situations. They wanted to have
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her sectioned, but a doctor disagreed, noting that she still
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had capacity. Another incident involved a different Asian man who
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refused to leave Sally's daughter's flat. Police told him to leave,
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but asked no questions. He left behind the back lava,
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yet the police she showed no interest despite him carrying
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it while visiting a young woman after her flat door
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was kicked down, and yet another incident. While she was missing,
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she returned to her mother's home. Sally's daughter later explained
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that she had moved away to keep her family safe.
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She claimed she had been told if she did not
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do as her abuser said, they would harm her brother,
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rape her sister, and firebomb the house. She had lied
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to her colleagues about her stepdad to avoid bringing repercussions
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on the family. She went missing again. The police stated
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they believed she was making the whole thing up and
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injuring herself, so they charged her with perverting the course
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of justice. Part of her bell conditions required her not
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to leave Sally's house. The following week, her daughter attempted
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suicide by overdose. She went missing one final time and
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was found in a field with injuries to her head
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and ear, a severed finger, and numerous cuts and bruises.
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Following this, she wrote a post on Facebook alleging that
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she had been a victim of grooming gangs. The post
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went viral within a half hour. Police arrested her and
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she was sent to prison. Following her daughter's conviction, the
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family experience as stayed harassment intimidation, particularly from one Muslim man.
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Sally reports repeated failure by the police to protect them.
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She believes her daughter was a vulnerable young woman who
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lied at times, but was nevertheless groomed. Marlin Marlin is
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the father of a daughter who was a repeated victim
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of grooming. As well as being repeatedly failed by authorities,
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Marlin reported his fourteen year old daughter, Scarlet, missing a
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number of times because she was being groomed and exploited.
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The police informed Social Services that what Marlin was doing
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was appropriate as he was acting to safeguard his daughter. However,
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Social Services did not accept the police assessment and instead
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dragged out the investigation for three months. During that time,
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his daughter disclosed concerns to her school, which resulted in
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Social Services attending Marlin's home while his daughter was present.
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They told him that if he tried to stop her
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from leaving the house, she should call Social services or
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the police. Social Services, undermining his parental authority resulted in
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her missing episodes escalating dramatically. Social Services effectively gave her
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permission to go missing, and the case was enclosed without
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meaningful intervention. Marlin placed a formal complaint to Social Services,
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stating that he was struggling to cope with his daughter's
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missing episodes. The social worker assigned to him following this
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openly stated to him that they were only taking the
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case because of his complaint. This made him feel like
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the problem, rather than parent concerned would safeguarding his daughter
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from abuse. On one occasion, Marlin stood in front of
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the door to prevent his daughter from leaving land at night,
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resulting in her repeatedly kicking him and breaking three of
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his fingers. He reported this to Social Services, who simply
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stated he should walk away when she becomes violent. Even
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after showing them the bruises on his back that he
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received as he walked away, they did not change the
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advice they gave. Marln remains convinced that if his child
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were male and he were female, the response would have
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been different. Marlin would often spend his evenings driving in
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search of his daughter. Until three or four am while
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having to work the following day, which his employer was
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not supportive of. He often reported or missing to police,
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who would sometimes turn up at his house many hours later.
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On one occasion, he saw footage of the police saying
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not to bother, even waking him. This made him feel
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more like a problem rather than it being the safeguarding
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emergency that it was. Scarlett was unlawfully excluded from school
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due to grooming related behavior and assigned a new school
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where the grooming gang operated. A multi agency risk management
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meeting was eventually convened with Children's Services and the police
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Missing from Home team. While the meeting was ongoing, one
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of the police officers in attendance told Marlin to stop
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reporting his daughter missing. Marlin challenged this, which resulted in
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the police officers shouting at him in front of all
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in attendance. The officer has since been dismissed. The social
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worker and manager president did not intervene, but privately acknowledged
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he was right to continue to report his daughter missing.
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They refused to launch a formal complaint against the officer.
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Shortly after this, daughter went missing for several days and
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was eventually found that Marlin's mother's house. Unkept distressed and
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stating that she had been raped. Care staff returned her
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to the location of the rape, thereby destroying forensic opportunities,
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and failed to report it to police until days later.
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Marlin had to make his own referral to the rape
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crisis center, by which time forensic evidence was lost. The
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perpetrator was arrested, but belle with a condition not to
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contact Marlin's daughter. Immediately upon leaving the station, he called
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her and threatened her life. He was an adult and
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drug dealer, and his association soon began attending Marlin's home.
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His daughter was terrified of them. An older woman began
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to groom and manipulate Marlin's daughter under the guise of friendship.
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After another missing episode, Marlin was able to trace his
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daughter to a specific property. Despite repeated calls and reports
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of men entering the property, both police and social services
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failed to remove her or issue an abduction warning notice.
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His daughter was later found to be the victim of
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criminal exploitation, including drug supply, prostitution, and being forced to
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dig up a firearm. These acts were directed by the
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older woman, amongst others. At this point, the impact on
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Marlin was catastrophic. He was physically exhausted, anxious, depressed, and
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lived in constant fear. He was attacked by massed individuals
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in his home, with the police response delayed and dismissive.
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Marlin's daughter was eventually taken into secure care, where she
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was subjected to further abuse, including sexual abuse by staff
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and other children, neglect, and safeguarding failure. Marlin made multiple
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complaints at a court hearing. Social Services attempted to place
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his daughter on child protection plan for emotional abuse and
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neglect by Marlin himself. However, the judge intervened and ordered
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this to be amended to be recorded as beyond parental control.
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Marlin's daughter continued to be moved between unsuitable placements. She
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was groomed, repeatedly, trafficked, forced into drug supply, and rape
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by adult men. She became pregnant as a result of rate.
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The handling of her termination by professionals was traumatic and negligent.
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Police later charged Scarlet with intent to supply Class A
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drugs despite her being a victim of trafficking and on
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the National Referral mechanism. Scarlet was placed in a unit
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run entirely by male Muslim staff where she was groomed again,
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racist abuse and extremists comments were made to her. Marlin
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again raised concerns, which were ignored. Despite his repeated attempts
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to help his daughter, he has experienced many instances of
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violence from her as a result of the trauma in grooming.
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He's experienced many assaults, received a black eye, and had
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to sleep barricaded in his room. He repeatedly requested domestic
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abuse support, but was refused because he was a male parent.
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He's been forced to complete parenting courses and blamed for
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his daughter's abuse. The whole experience has harmed Marlin financially, emotionally,
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and psychologically. He states it has destroyed his life. He's
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no longer the person he used to be, and Marlin's
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case highlights that parents can be victims of both grooming
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networks as well as widespread institutional failure. If you'd like
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to hear more of Marlin's story in greater detail, he
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recently published a book about his experiences titled in Plain Sight.
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All Right, we're gonna wrap up right here, and in
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the next episode, we're gonna pick up with Wallace. All
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of the information that goes with This episode can be
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found in the description box.