Victims of sexual crimes have said "all cases should be investigated to the end" afters shocking figures exposed Bexley as one of the London boroughs most likely to dismiss rape allegations.

Earlier the month News Shopper reported how nearly a third of reported rapes in the borough were not recorded as crimes by the Met last year and so were not investigated, according to shocking new figures.

Figures given to The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) by the CPS has shown police categorised 13 rape allegations as ‘crime-related incidents’ and 13 as ‘no crimes’ in Bexley last year.

Linda Chenapa, who was sexually molested by Swanley doctor Barend Delport in 2009 (pictured below), believes police need to investigate assault and rape cases more thoroughly.

She told News Shopper: "It is often one person's word against another but all cases should be investigated to the end.

"No one that has been through such an awful violation of their body should be dismissed for any reason.

"Rape is not always associated with violence, often the opposite.

"Most rapes are committed by people known to the victim and where the couple have had sexual intercourse on previous occasions."

News Shopper: Barend Delport.

News Shopper spoke to a Dartford woman who had a sexual relationship with a 26-year-old man when she was 13.

The woman, now 34, tried to take the case to court in 2010 and 2013 but was told by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) too much time had passed between the incident and the allegation.

She said the affair started when she babysat for the man’s daughter in Brockley.

The woman, who must remain anonymous, told News Shopper: "People who commit these kind of crimes are hiding behind the law.

"When I first asked about reporting it, a few years ago, the police said I’d had to give an initial report at the front desk.

"The CPS told me it wouldn’t go to court because the law had changed and so he could not be prosecuted."

Malcolm Gilbert (pictured below) is the business and funding manager at Family Matters, a charity which helps victims of rape and sexual abuse across Bexley and Kent.

News Shopper: Malcolm Gilbert is the business and funding manager at Family Matters

He said: "Rape victims are very well aware of the attitude of society toward them - blaming victims for being drunk or dressing provocatively or being in the wrong place. 

"To turn it on its head would we blame a well-dressed man who is a little worse drink for being mugged for his wallet late at night?

"To then have the police minimise such a heinous abuse of an individual by ‘no criming’ the allegation is about the worst possible thing they could do."

One Lewisham-based organisation called the findings "disappointing" because they discouraged women from coming forward.

Co-founder of anti-violence group, Waves, Kirsty Lowe, said: "It's a sad fact most women who have been raped do not report to the police.

"To think that there are women who have been brave enough to make a complaint but not had the crimes against them investigated thoroughly is very disappointing.

"Lewisham is currently drafting it's violence against women and girls strategy and we see this as an opportunity to improve the way rape is recorded and responded to within the borough."  

Met response

A Met spokesman said: "We voluntarily referred the matter to the Independent Police Complaints Commission who took the decision to return it to the Met to be looked at locally.

"That investigation, by officers from our Directorate of Professional Standards, is ongoing and it would therefore be inappropriate to discuss further at this time."