The sexual exploitation of children in Kent is being tackled by a new team made up of police officers, hospital staff and other professionals.

A public campaign called Operation Willow was launched at Oakwood House in Maidstone today and aims to prevent child sexual exploitation and help victims as well as deal with those exploiting the youngsters.

The Child Sexual Exploitation Team (CSET) will help children of all ages although Det Supt Andy Pritchard said the main focus would be on 14 to 17-year-olds, who are most at risk.

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DS Pritchard, who spoke at the launch, told KentOnline: “Child sexual exploitation is where a person uses their situation to groom a child. Usually there is an element of reward or encouragement of a child to engage in certain behaviours.

"They might initially feel like they’re being treated specially but further down the line there is an expectation and initially, again, it might feel like it’s a consensual expectation, but they then either have sex or give sexual favours or indeed recruit, on behalf of offenders, other children into sexual activity.

"It may be far too late by the time a child realises they are being exploited," Det Supt Andy Pritchard

“It is what we call hidden harm. Very often a child might be in a situation where in the early stages it appears to be something exciting, something they want and something they thrive on. It may be far too late by the time that child realises they are being exploited. It then makes it much harder to support a child who’s already been exploited for a number of years or months and it makes it much harder to come through therapy and recover and lead a normal life.

“There’s no part of Kent where we can say this is more or less likely to happen. We do know there are more vulnerable people in deprived areas, such as parts of Thanet and Medway, but exploitation could easily be occurring in affluent areas.”

Video: Operation Willow is set to tackle child sexual exploitation.

He said child sexual exploitation can be a single person preying on a child for their own sexual gratification or an organised group, grooming youngsters either for themselves or to sell into prostitution.

There is no one warning sign that a child is being exploited, DS Pritchard said, but youngsters may be engaging in sexual activity at a young age, talking about sex in an inappropriate way, avoiding situations where they are supervised by adults, repeatedly going missing from home or school, or spending a lot of time with an older person or people.

The team, based at Kent Police’s Maidstone headquarters, consists of police officers and staff, social workers, health workers from NHS England, Kent County Council and Medway Council.

Funding for the policing element of the team comes from Kent Police and Crime Commissioner Ann Barnes, who will donate £200,000 a year for three years.

Mrs Barnes said: “This is a revolting crime, I can’t think of one that’s as bad. Young people’s lives are ruined and their children’s lives too. But it’s a fairly hidden crime.

"When Rotherham hit the headlines, the one big thing that came out of it was the need for partnership working. The agencies in Kent will work together to identify children at risk.”

Patricia Denney, KCC’s assistant director for safeguarding and quality assurance, said there are 3,677 vulnerable children in Kent, including looked after children and unaccompanied minors who could be at risk of sexual exploitation.

She said the agencies would work together to protect these youngsters.

Report suspected child exploitation by calling 101 and quoting Operation Willow or calling the Say Something Helpline anonymously on 116 000.