Seven men charged in latest UK grooming gang case
Six of the seven face at least one count of rape while the seventh faces a sexual assault charge.
UK police on Wednesday said they had charged seven men with over 40 offences against 11 teenage girls, the latest prosecution in the decades-long “grooming gangs” scandal.
The men face a range of charges including rape or sexual assault in the western city of Bristol between 2022 and 2025.
“The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has decided to prosecute seven men following a police investigation into group-based child sexual exploitation in Bristol,” said James Bolton-Smith of the CPS’s organised child sexual abuse unit.
‘Grooming gang’ cases
It is the latest in a string of so-called “grooming gang” cases that prompted the government in June to order a public inquiry following years of calls for a wider probe.
Numerous official reports, including a landmark review by parliamentarian Louise Casey, have found men of mostly South Asian origin were suspected of having sexually abused thousands of mostly white, working-class girls over several decades.
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Four of the seven men charged in the latest case described themselves as Iranian, Syrian or Arab, Avon and Somerset Police said in a statement.
Six of the seven faced at least one count of rape. The seventh faced a sexual assault charge.
Historic child sexual exploitation convictions
Probes into historic child sexual exploitation in Rochdale in northern England have so far led to the conviction of 32 offenders, according to police.
They have collectively been jailed for more than 450 years.
Far-right British figures, including activist Tommy Robinson, are among those to have seized on the issue as a rallying cry against multiculturalism and immigration.
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