Grooming gangs are using vapes to lure in girls as young as 10 years old

Grooming gangs are using vapes to entice girls as young as 10 years old before exploiting them, police are warning.

GMP Rochdale's district commander chief superintendent Nicky Porter has warned grooming gangs are luring children in with vapes before leaving them in “very vulnerable situations” where they can be exploited.

It comes after five men were jailed today (October 30) for more than seven decades for non-recent child sexual exploitation in Rochdale. The men were found guilty of abusing two girls over a number of years in the mid 2000s.

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Speaking at Greater Manchester Police's HQ on the day of the sentencing, chief superintendent Porter said: “Not everybody makes the connection between vapes and sexual exploitation or criminal exploitation but what we’re finding with most cases of exploitation is that there are gateways into this type of offending and that’s often by enticing young people with things that are desirable, that they might not be able to afford, like vapes that at the moment are very much a must have commodity for some young people.

“It starts with vaping, it might be encouraging young people to smoke vapes in a certain location, and then young people can find themselves in very vulnerable situations where they can be exploited.”

Her comments come amid a surge in police reports concerning the sale or provision of illegal vapes with officers receiving intel that premises are selling vapes to young children and adults are offering them out outside shops and schools.

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