'It took seven years to bring my abusers to justice - I've lost faith in the system'

Starting at the age of 10, and carrying on until he was 16, Steven Jones was a victim of child sexual abuse and exploitation. In his 40s, he reported his abusers to the police, beginning a seven-year wait for justice that has left him feeling re-traumatised, with his trust in the system "completely broken".

His abusers, who had acted separately, were jailed at Birmingham Crown Court on 4 November. William Douglas, 58, from Birmingham, was sentenced to 14 years in prison while David Jordan, 75, also from the city, was jailed for five years.

Now aged 52, and having waived his right to anonymity, Mr Jones said he felt he had been "repeatedly let down by police and court staff and dismissed by those who should have understood the impact [being sexually abused had] on me."

Mr Jones said the process had "triggered painful and traumatic memories, increasing my anxiety, nightmares and sleep problems."

West Midlands Police accepted that "some aspects of the investigation could have been improved."

In a statement, the force said the passage of time meant that they did not have forensic evidence to draw on and as a result the investigation had been "complex and lengthy", relying on the "courage of a small number of witnesses" to secure a conviction.

• If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this story, information and support can be found at the BBC's Action Line website.

At 10 years old, Mr Jones was living in a house on the Bromford estate, close to the Fort Dunlop Factory and M6, with his mother and sister. A shy child, he struggled at school and described himself as a "bit of a loner."

He began sniffing glue and gas and skipping school. That is when he first met David Jordan, who was the local milkman, and started helping him with his round.

"He asked me if I wanted to make extra money," Mr Jones said.

He mentioned something called the "nervous test", where he would touch certain parts of your body to see how brave you were.

"It just escalated from there."

Soon Jordan was taking him to a block of flats on the estate, where he would sexually abuse him in a cupboard and pay him more money.

Bromford is also where Mr Jones met William Douglas, who he knew as Billy Ben.

He was a contractor helping to build a playground in the park and would give him and some of the other children a ride on his digger, he recalled.

Mr Jones said Douglas would buy him and the other boys glue and gas and other drugs and before long the same pattern repeated itself.

"He started touching us and said he could get us more money."

By the time he was 13, Mr Jones was often staying out all night, mixing with older boys and committing crime.

Unaware that Jordan and Douglas were sexually abusing Mr Jones, his parents were struggling to get him to go to school. He was taken into care by Birmingham Social Services, where his care records indicate he was "on the fringe of delinquency."

Between 1986 and 1989, there were stays in multiple different care homes across the city.

Mr Jones said he was desperately unhappy in care and kept running away. Addicted to drugs and looking to make money to feed his habit, Douglas coerced him into being sexually exploited, which led to multiple men raping him between the ages of 13 and 15.

Mr Jones recalled how he and other boys, many from children's homes, were strategically placed at bus stops close to the Albany Hotel on Smallbrook Queensway.

Men would drive round a route that was nicknamed "the Slipper" and pick up the boys.

Douglas would "point out punters", Mr Jones recalled.

"We'd either do stuff in the cars or they'd take us back to their houses. Sometimes I'd get to have a bed for the night and stop over."

Mr Jones' care records show that he was found by police at a cafe in Digbeth, on 27 January 1989 at 02:00. He said it was where he and other boys who were being sexually exploited at the time, would go to keep warm.

He remembered being arrested for "importuning" or male prostitution, but in a different era, he said he and other boys were criminalised rather than being protected.

"The police let us down back then," he said. "They could probably see that we needed help, but [we were] arrested instead."

He also believes Birmingham City Council failed in its duty of care to protect him from being sexually exploited when he was in its care in the late eighties.

In response the council said "Mr Jones has the opportunity to raise these concerns formally through our complaints process or by pursuing a legal claim, but this has not happened to date."

After leaving care, Mr Jones was in and out of prison until he had his first child at 26.

It was many years later, when his eldest son started his first job, that the enormity of what had happened to him as a child hit home.

"I broke down crying, I just couldn't cope anymore," he said. "I felt disgusted in myself and was drinking myself unconscious."

He reported what had happened to him to West Midlands Police in 2018 and was referred to the Coventry Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre (CRASAC) for support.

Eighteen months after first reporting his abusers to West Midlands Police, Mr Jones said very little had been done to investigate. He made two official complaints in 2022 and 2023 about the lack of progression and poor communication.

Chief executive of CRASAC Natalie Thompson said: "Every delay is another day their life is on hold. They're liable to be re-traumatised again and again."

West Midlands Police accepted that "some aspects of the investigation could have been improved, including better communication", but they insisted they had "supported victims enabling them to fully engage with the process over an extended period of time."

Despite the difficulties he has encountered, Mr Jones has spoken out in the hope that it will encourage other victims to come forward.

"Anyone who has been abused, trafficked, sexually assaulted [needs] to come forward," he said, "because it eats away on the inside if things don't get resolved."

Now his abusers have been jailed Mr Jones says he is "happy it's all over." He is hoping to finally be able to move on with his life, with the support of his family, but he knows there is still a long way to go on the road to recovery.

Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.