Grooming behaviours
Grooming doesn’t only focus on children and young people, but also involves the grooming of the victim’s families and the perpetrator’s colleagues to secure access and prevent detection.
William Vahey, a prolific sex offender, was able to obtain employment at a school in London. The Serious Case Review following the discovery of the abuse that he had perpetrated at the school found that, whilst there were aspects of his behaviour that should have alerted senior staff, these were never looked into.
The review found that Vahey not only groomed children but groomed the staff as well, assuming a great deal of power and influence in the school. Therefore, even though individuals had concerns these were never taken further – despite the review finding some pupils referred to him as ‘paedo Vahey’. Ian Huntley, a perpetrator of domestic abuse, sex offender and murderer, also groomed staff at the school where he worked as a caretaker.
Perpetrators may aim to present as caring, hardworking staff and will employ tactics to gain power and one-to-one access to children within or outside the organisation.
Remember, settings such as schools, early years, colleges and care homes provide a regular point of contact with children and young people. Perpetrators can befriend victims with ease. The child’s trust can override the child’s ability to see through deception. The Jeremy Forrest case demonstrates this risk. He groomed his pupil to begin what she believed was a genuine romantic relationship, and easily encouraged her to run away with him. Concerns were also raised about the school’s culture where staff “repeatedly failed to see the evidence of [the teacher’s] misconduct or to hear the concerns raised by students”.