THE disappearance of 14-year-old Charlene Downes in Blackpool in 2003 exposed shocking levels of child sexual abuse and neglect in the rundown seaside town.
Two years later, police told Charlene’s parents, Bob and Karen, that they believed Charlene was dead and that it was likely she had been murdered within hours of her last sighting, on a November night in the town centre.
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Described by her mum as “a bubbly girl who likes a laugh, Westlife and fashion”, Charlene looked young for her age.
I first met Bob and Karen in 2005.
I have never forgotten the tragic details of the story, and one of its worst aspects was how terrible Charlene’s life was prior to her disappearance.
Charlene had three siblings: Emma, Becki and Robert Jr. Young Robert died two years ago of a heroin overdose.
During the search for Charlene more than 3,000 people were interviewed, and in the process police became alerted to the huge number of vulnerable girls — some as young as 11 — being targeted by male sex offenders in Blackpool.
There is a dark underbelly of sexual exploitation in the town, and some of these girls hung around an alleyway lined with takeaway outlets popular with teenagers.
A number of girls had been sexually abused there in exchange for food, cigarettes and alcohol. In the period of time before she went missing, Charlene was sexually abused there by one or more men.
‘Poor child deserves a resting place’
Kebab shop owner Mohammed Reveshi and his business associate Iyad Albattikhi were charged with Charlene’s murder in 2007, but the trial was halted when the jury failed to reach a verdict.
Both men were eventually cleared of the charges.
The case, not against them, is still open, but nothing seems to be happening.
The Justice For Charlene Downes Campaign Group was founded by Ronay Crompton, 45, a former youth and community worker from Bradford.
She tells me: “I was watching a documentary in 2019 about the case and became obsessed by what had happened to Charlene.
“We now have 4,000 members, from all walks of life, but what binds us together is wanting justice for Charlene and all the other kids like her.”
I meet Ronay in Blackpool on the 20th anniversary of Charlene’s disappearance, Wednesday, November 1.
She has brought along a 6ft banner that reads: “Break the silence on child abuse” and a school photo of Charlene, her blonde hair framing a sweet, smiling face.
As the banner is hung between two lampposts, appropriately enough outside the main social services building in the town centre, several people stop to thank Ronay and the other campaign group members.
One woman shouts: “Keep at it! That poor child deserves a resting place.”
Blackpool used to be a lovely seaside resort where my family would go every year for a holiday.
But over the decades it has become a hell on earth for children.
It is one of the most deprived areas in the UK, with more than 50 per cent of its children in some wards living in poverty.
The number of children in care is three times the national average, while Blackpool and Lancaster are home to more than 1,252 registered sex offenders.
Last year, Blackpool also had the highest number of sexual offences referred to the Crown Prosecution Service in England and Wales.
A mountain of evidence shows that Charlene had been known to social services as a child, both in the West Midlands and after the family moved to Blackpool.
Social workers twice decided that Charlene should be in local authority care.
The first time, no placement was available.
The second, she was allowed to stay with her family.
And for all the racist assertions put about by the British National Party, the people that either initially abused or failed Charlene were of her own race, her own culture.
On the day their daughter disappeared, her parents were apparently too busy hosting a man later revealed to be a convicted paedophile to call the police, which her mother waited two whole days to do.
Their guest had pleaded guilty to four counts of sexual abuse of ten-year-old children.
The parents later said they were unaware of his convictions.
Many locals have turned their backs on Karen and Robert.
Some men put down their drinks in protest when he walks into the pub.
Robert has been hit by a car and punched several times, although the parents say they are not in any way responsible for Charlene’s tragic death.
When Charlene started smoking at 14, her mother wondered where she got the money for cigarettes — and then she started bunking off school.
In the two years before she went missing, Charlene had, unknown to her parents, visited a sexual health walk-in clinic 13 times, once with deep bruising to the inside of her thighs.
Robert Jr died of his suspected drug overdose two years ago, aged 30.
In 2019 he had been jailed for attacking his mother.
In 2014, police put up a £100,000 reward for information leading to a conviction in Charlene’s case.
In August 2017, a 53-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of her murder.
He was released pending further enquiries but remains under investigation.
Dr Kirsty Bennett, a criminologist at Leeds Trinity University, works in the cold case unit and is conducting an independent review into Charlene’s case.
She says it is “disappointing” that there has been little progress 20 years on from Charlene’s disappearance.
Dr Bennett adds: “Charlene continues to be failed, with nobody held accountable for her abuse and exploitation.
“This is a young girl, left vulnerable to abuse in the community.
“More work needs to be done for girls like Charlene, from the past and today.”
For Ronay, “There’s lots of lost and lonely people in Blackpool, and they want to do something to help.”
Charlene is often depicted as the victim of “Asian grooming gangs” — but there is no evidence of such gangs operating in Blackpool.
At the memorial to mark the 20th anniversary of Charlene’s disappearance, organised by her family, I spot Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, AKA Tommy Robinson, a far-right activist and founder of the English Defence League.
With him is Paul Golding from the racist organisation Britain First.
Along with the British National Party, which funded a memorial plaque for Charlene in 2011 and has regularly interviewed Karen Downes for its website, these groups insist that “Asian grooming gangs” are responsible for the vast majority of child sexual exploitation in Blackpool and elsewhere.
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There can be little doubt that Charlene was one of the very many girls who visited the takeaways in the notorious alley and was sexually abused for money.
Read more on the Scottish Sun
“Perhaps the saddest part of this story is how Charlene was failed in life, as she has been these past 20 years. She was failed by every single agency that should have been there to help her and to stop the abuse,” says Ronay Crampton.
“It’s as if girls like Charlene, seen as underclass and from problem families, are the forgotten children.”