A WOMAN who reported peadophile businessman Giovanni Miccoli to police 12 years ago believes there may be more victims, and has urged them to come forward.

The Chronicle revealed last week how the woman said she reported Miccoli - who was last month jailed for four-and-a-half years for sex offences against a 15-year-old boy - in 2006 after he allegedly assaulted her nephew.

She reported him again in 2014 but said it was ‘like pulling teeth.’

Barnsley Ch Supt Scott Green issued an apology for not investigating further at the time and said the matter had been referred to the force’s Professional Standards Body to see if any misconduct had taken place.

But the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, believes there could be other victims of Miccoli, who was known in Barnsley as hairdresser Mr Giovanni, and has urged them to come forward.

She said: “It’s just horrible (what’s happened), but now it’s out in the open it might encourage others to come forward. I hope so.

“If you have been affected, come forward. I’m sure there are many more kids to come forward.

“I’m glad it has been publicly acknowledged. The police should have taken it seriously and they should have listened to my concerns. They keep going on about child sexual exploitation and to report things that don’t seem right but when you do they do nothing about it.”

The woman said her nephew was 16 when Miccoli sexually assaulted him at his bungalow in Hoylandswaine, and that the teenager had to escape out of the window.

She reported Miccoli to the police, but was told nothing could be done because her nephew was 16 - the age of sexual consent - despite him being a ‘vulnerable adult’.

She said she was only aware of that one incident involving her nephew but that Miccoli had groomed him for 12 months, giving him a job at his hairdresser’s.

The woman added: “I phoned the police last Friday and asked to be put through to Scott Green, but they wouldn’t put me through.

“I would like to know who the apology is aimed at. Is it the victim? It would be good to apologise to the people who have been affected by it.

“They are admitting that they should have passed it on, and they didn’t.

“I’m just going to wait and see what the decision is with the professional standards body.”

Miccoli, 66, formerly of Agnes Road, Barnsley, was last month sentenced for offences which took place in 2015 in Barnsley, where the paedophile had previously been a hairdresser and a restaurant owner.

Police said the offences for which he was convicted took place in Barnsley between January and July 2015.

He was arrested in August 2015, but fled to Lecce in September while on bail and was eventually returned on a European arrest warrant in February 2018.

He pleaded guilty to eight offences, which included three counts of sexual activity with a child, three counts of sexual activity in the presence of a child and two counts of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

The Chronicle also learned that Miccoli was facing 40 charges relating to a teenager in 2012, but the case against him was dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service when the victim died.