GANG rape and kidnap are just two of the crimes men involved in the alleged South Oxhey assaults have inflicted on their young victims, according to one mother who has spoken this week to The Watford Observer.-

The woman, who cannot be identified, said two of her daughters had been raped by these men - one gang raped, both when they were 15.

Some details have been deliberately kept out to protect the family.

The woman said: 'My older daughter has only just told me she was gang-raped a few years ago. She still doesn't want to talk about it because she finds it too difficult.

'My daughters were normal, loving girls who got caught up in this.

'The abuse starts with younger boys befriending them and then the older men come on the scene.

'I even met the young men and was taken in by their charm, so what hope has a 15-year-old got?

'The girls think they are loved but they are sex slaves - and it's difficult for them to stop, not just because these men threaten them but because it's like an addiction, they are bored because there is nothing to do here and they are drawn back in.

'They say to the girls once you are involved you will never be free and it seems to be true.

'My daughters have been chased in cars. One of them was picked up off the ground and dragged into a van one day, while she was trying to stay away from them. They are vicious.

'They sometimes take the girls off somewhere and if they won't have sex with them they just dump them there, sometimes their clothes and shoes are taken away and they are held captive by these men so they won't run away.

'The men are still coming around and looking for them.

'There is nothing the police can do because the girls won't give statements.

'Social services have been fantastic but I am devastated by this. I feel that in some way I'm to blame, that I should have locked them in the house. They will be suffering for the rest of their lives.

'We have to stop this happening again and again.'

Another mother, who did not want to be identified, was very keen to warn the South Oxhey community and others about these men.

'There are a lot of things that haven't been reported that might help parents,' she said.

'To my knowledge this has been going on for six or seven years and not just in South Oxhey - girls from all over are involved, such as the Meriden Estate in Garston, Borehamwood - anywhere where there are vulnerable girls.

'Parents need to know they are putting their children at risk when they allow them to hang around off-licences and chip shops.

'Sometimes it's older girls who drag the younger innocent ones in and, by the time they are 15, they are embroiled.

'My daughter was involved for about a year on and off and it took her about a year to get away from them.

'We know one family that moved to South Oxhey from another estate to get away from these men only to discover that when they got here they were operating in this area.'

Anyone wanting to report incidents of crime, or have been victims of assaults in South Oxhey or has any information about this series of incidents is urged to contact one of the helplines listed.

Hertfordshire Constabulary's Child Protection Investigation Unit 01923 472220

Three Rivers Community Safety Team 01923 472112

Community Safety Inspector for Three Rivers Shakil Qasim 01923 472127

Hertfordshire County Council Social Services 01923 471400

NSPCC 0808 8005000