In a trial in Oxford last week, several gang members were convicted of the horrific abuse and gang rape of six girls over a period of five years.
The girls, aged between 13 and 16, were targeted on social media and lured to parties where the gang members would groom them for abuse. 21-year-old Ahmed Hassan-Sule, identified as the gang's ringleader, was found guilty of multiple counts of sexual activity with a child and one count of assault by penetration.
Yet in his closing arguments, the defence lawyer, Michael Magarian QC, made the claim that the girls had only come forward because "It's better to be a victim than a slag."
He continued: "Once you are a victim who has been groomed you no longer have to take any responsibility for anything that you did."
According to The Times, Magarian also described the case as "police-manufactured" and that the girls may have been "brainwashed by social workers".
Another lawyer for the defence, Clare Dowse QC, suggested that the girls "might be enjoying all the attention from police and social services".
Jon Brown, head of the NSPCC's sexual abuse programmes, strongly condemned the lawyers' comments, telling The Times:
They show a total lack of understanding of how children are groomed. Any suggestion that they may be to blame for the horrendous things that happened are totally wrong.
Stuart Trimmer, for the prosecution, said that the victims were "emotionally immature" and that some were simply "looking for friendship".
He told the jury the girls had been marked as potential targets on social media, and invited to parties for under-18s.
"Sadly for them they were identified by these defendants and used by them," Trimmer told the court. "Once they were into the cycle of abuse they had no realistic means of extricating themselves."