Travails of Youth: A Novella

Last Name: Lynch

First and Other Names: James

Summary:

This book is a work of fiction drawing on a number of events of sexual extortion of young girls by an organised criminal group (OCG) from a neighbouring ethnic minority group.  Such events took place in increasing numbers across England in several places from the 1980s to the 2020s.  All characters are fictional and any resemblance to real people, events and places is purely coincidental.  The outline of the story is as follows.

Lucy, who is just twelve at the beginning of the story and her seventy-year-old ever-young Gran, with whom she is very close, discover a systematic attempt to groom white girls aged 11 and 16, to addict them and coerce them into a life life of endless sexual exploitation.

In the face of silence from the community, police and social services, Lucy and her Gran are so appalled by what they learn that they decide to try to do something about it. They attend a so-called private Youth Café and observe and photograph what is happening there, subsequently seeking to report their findings to the Police.

The demands of finding an appropriate channel for their complaint and getting the information acted on by the Police and Social Services are complex, frustrating and lengthy.  They realize that one of the reasons for this is the fear on the part of the Police and Social Services of being accused of Islamophobia and racism by members and groups in the local comparable communities.

Their efforts eventually result in the murder of Lucy’s Gran, at which Lucy is traumatised.  By happy coincidence Lucy meets Janice, a woman newspaper reporter on the local newspaper, the ‘Star’.  Lucy and Janice have common interests and become close friends.  They continue the collection of evidence for the campaign together and now to a much wider audience.

Eventually a Public Inquiry is established by one Local Authority, although by that time many such instances of violent sexual exploitation of under-age girls have occurred across the country and they are often accompanied by induced drug addiction.

Finally by the mid- 2020s action by the Forces of Law and Order to bring the culprits to justice is effective and dozens of culprits are arrested and sentenced.  By that time Lucy is in her 30s and together with Janice has been awarded an Honour for her endeavours.  In the period described over fifteen hundred young girls had suffered forced extortion by members of the OCGs and the practice was still widespread in England.

Year of Publication: 2025

Publisher: Amazon KDP

Category: Fiction

Language: English