Rare for women to be involved in child sex ring

This is a very rare case, as the vast majority of sexual abuse cases involve men.

It is almost unique to find women at the centre of an organised ring of paedophiles.

I spent five years working at Holloway prison assessing women there and I cannot remember anything similar.

However, we do know that women who have experienced abuse in their own life are far more likely to harm children — although in general it is more likely to be their own children, making this case even more unusual.

We are really not sure of the reasons behind such abuses but one theory is that because the women may have suffered abuse in their own life, they are extremely angry at the reproductive side of life. This causes them to target children in later life.

This is a worrying case for child care, and raises the issue of how checks are carried out. If someone applying for employment in child care has a history of abuse in their own life, it may be worthwhile flagging them for further checks.

As for the perpetrators in this case, although I cannot comment on action that would be appropriate, I would say that as a society we do now have access to a range of treatments for sex offenders that can work.

* Dr Taylor is a consultant forensic psychologist