"A managed investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) into Essex Police’s north Child Abuse Investigation Team (CAIT) is now looking at 49 separate cases relating to the handling of child abuse inquiries reported between 2011 and 2015," the ICPP stated.
The ICPP also issued notices updating victims or their families of the investigation's development.
"Twenty-two of the notices allege gross misconduct and seven relate to alleged misconduct matters. These include: failing to make reasonable enquiries and progress investigations; failing to address victim safeguarding; and concerns regarding honesty and integrity issues in relation to how some investigations were carried out," the IPCC explained.
Police in the United Kingdom have been tarnished by alleged cover-ups of child sexual abuse. In another case, also under investigation by the IPCC, 42 police officers in South Yorkshire are under investigation for their handling of the Rotherham scandal, in which children were sexually exploited between 2004 and 2006.
