Full Description
"I can't change what's happened to me. But I can speak out to try and make sure all children are aware of grooming and how to stop it. We have to educate and protect our children, so that child sex exploitation becomes a thing of the past."
Aged 12, Sam Walker-Roberts was groomed online by a teacher who sexually assaulted and raped her. Weeks later, she fell into the clutches of a paedophile ring and was raped repeatedly by a gang, only one of whom faced justice.
Devastated at the failures in the judicial system, Sam launched: 'You have not defeated me', a campaign which demanded more support and understanding for grooming victims. In 2012, Sam worked with Keith Vaz on a government inquiry into localised grooming. In 2014, she returned to the street where she was gang-raped and interviewed local residents, gathering evidence that other children had been exploited at the same address.
Working with MPs, she set up fake profiles online, showing how easily children are targeted. She snared two paedophiles who were later jailed. In 2019, Sam wrote an open letter: 'Message to a Monster' and launched an e-petition calling for the notion of ostensible consent to be abolished in child sex cases.
Three years later, Sam headed a panel of 11 victims at the Oldham CSE inquiry. Her complaints against police and council were upheld and she received apologies. She has since been pushing Oldham council to hold a broad review which she hopes will lead to the introduction of new safety measures for all children. She recently learned she has been successful, and the inquiry will now go ahead.
Sam has battled back from unimaginable tragedy, including the death of her husband and loss of her children, to fight for change. She has found peace converting to Islam and is determined to remove race labels from the grooming debate.
