Britain's second largest police force withheld a report about gangs of Muslim men grooming children in case it inflamed racial tensions ahead of a General Election

West Midlands Police were warned more than 100 predominantly white children - some as young as 13 - were at serious risk of child exploitation five years ago. A document entitled "Problem Profile, Operation Protection" from March 2010 reveals that Asian gangs targeted schools and children's homes across the force area. The report, written for senior officers, also reveals how white girls were used to recruit other vulnerable victims on behalf of the gangs. But there were fears over a row ahead of the May 2010 General Election and an English Defense League rally in April leading to a "backlash against law abiding citizens from Asian/Pakistani communities". Despite the warnings, police did not warn the public or appeal for information about the men responsible and the report was only published recently under the Freedom of Information Act. In one heavily redacted passage, the document reads: "In (redacted) a teacher at a (redacted) that a group of Asian males were approaching pupils at the school gate and grooming them. Strong anecdotal evidence shows this MO (modus operandi) is being used across the force. Operations in other forces have identified an MO where offenders use a young girl in a children's home to target and groom other residents on their behalf. This has also been evidenced within the force in (redacted) and (redacted). The girl's motivation to recruit new victims is often that the provision of new girls provides her a way to escape the cycle of abuse." The report said that police had identified a potential 139 victims, 78% of whom were white while more than half were aged 13 to 15. Half of all victims, who were from Birmingham, Dudley and Walsall, lived with their parents, while 41% were in care. Police pin-pointed 75 grooming suspects - most with a history of sexual violence - with most being from a Muslim background from Birmingham. The report stated: "The vast majority of identified suspects (79 per cent) are Asian (59 of 75), 12 per cent are white and five per cent are African Caribbean. 62 per cent of Asian suspects are of Pakistani origin. Pakistani males account for half of all identified suspects in the force (37 of 75)."