A British police force has apologised to three women and paid them substantial damages for failing to protect them from pedophile rings in the city of Rochdale. Instead of child victims of sexual abuse, the three were viewed by police as “bad” or “unreliable” witnesses and were sometimes arrested themselves while reporting abuse, the women said. The three, one who was 14 and two who were 12 at the time, were repeatedly raped and sexually abused by gangs of men predominantly from the Pakistani community—a phenomenon known in the UK as “Asian grooming gangs.” Stephen Watson, chief constable of Greater Manchester Police (GMP), met the women at force headquarters on April 12 to apologise in person for police failings. Watson apologised for the failure of the force to protect them and investigate the abusers, which happened under previous chief constables, including Sir Peter Fahy and his predecessor. The top police …