Children raped and abused in high street hotel chains as offenders 'put do not disturb sign on door and do whatever they want'

Although offences in hotels made up less than one per cent of all recorded child sexual violence crimes in England and Wales, police say the crime is likely underreported.

In 2023, 504 offences were recorded, of which 464 involved physical contact with a child and 203 were recorded as rape.

The figures revealed that 84 per cent of the victims were female. 26 per cent of victims were aged 15, 18 per cent were aged 16, and 17 per cent were aged 17.

Almost all suspects (92 per cent) were men, and the average age of suspects was 28.

Around four per cent of the reported offences were identified as group based, although victims have said that even when perpetrators turn up alone, they are often part of grooming gangs where children are swapped between abusers.

One victim, who was often brought to hotels by her abuser, has said the data is unsurprising.

"You can put a 'Do not disturb' sign on the door and then they can do whatever they want with nobody wondering what's going on," she revealed.

"I can't even stay in a hotel now without thinking about what happened to me."

The NPCC said forces are working alongside hotels to raise awareness of this offence.

Trade body UK Hospitality has doubled down to tackle the crime, and a campaign called Operation Makesafe was launched, where hotel staff are trained to identify signs of sexual abuse and told how to report it to the police.

Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UK Hospitality, told the BBC: "We are working closely with the Home Office and police to support Operation Makesafe. We provide hospitality businesses with police guidance on what the signs of child sexual exploitation are, how to spot them, what to do if you think an incident is taking place and measures hotels can implement to deter incidents."

According to the NPCC, the venues involved were often in major cities and towns, close to train stations and motorways, making it easier for the perpetrators to meet their victims.

Some budget hotels have self-check in services, allowing abusers to check in with young people unnoticed.

Phil Ashford, from the NPCC child sexual exploitation taskforce said: "Once you're behind that hotel bedroom door, there's a degree of privacy that perpetrators often don't find elsewhere when they commit abuse."

"We're talking about some of the most serious contact offending imaginable - the rape and serious sexual abuse of children."

To ensure hotels understand what to do, officer from Greater Manchester Police have conducted operations where they pretend to be an abuser and travel to a hotel with a child acting as a victim.

They then attempt to book a room while acting suspiciously.

Sergeant Ian Haselden from the police force said they would ratherbe safe than sorry, and they don’t want hotel staff to worry about making the wrong call.

"If hotels are suspicious the gold standard response is to call the police," he added.