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Nine men from Rochdale have been charged following an investigation into child sexual exploitation.
The charges relate to offences committed separately against one teenage girl in the Rochdale area by different men between 2008 and 2009.
Greater Manchester Police say the victim was traced as part of a separate investigation which resulted in nine men being jailed in May for running a child exploitation ring in the Heywood area of Rochdale.
Their trial at Liverpool Crown Court heard the group had plied their vulnerable underage victims with alcohol and drugs and passed them around for sex.
The police say this latest investigation, which has led to nine other men being charged, is different in nature as there are no allegations of trafficking.
Freddy Kendakumana, 26, has been charged with three counts of rape, attempted rape and four counts of sexual activity with a child under 16.
Roheez Khan, 26, has been charged with ten counts of sexual activity with a child under 16. Chola Chansa, 32, has been charged with two counts of sexual activity with a child under 16.
Ali Asghar Hussain Shah, 39, Anjam Masood, 30, Mohammed Rafiq, 31, and Asrar Haider, 38 have all been charged with sexual activity and inciting sexual activity with a child under 16.
Abdul Huk, 36, and Mohammed Ali, 27, have been charged with sexual activity with a child under 16.
All the men have been bailed and will appear before Bury Magistrates Court on various dates between November and December.
Lynne Jones, Chair of Rochdale Borough Safeguarding Children Board, said: “The board has been working very hard to ensure vulnerable children and young people are protected from all forms of abuse.
“Together with Rochdale Borough Council, Greater Manchester Police, the Crown Prosecution Service, the NHS and our other members we have clear strategies in place to combat child sexual exploitation, which sadly is happening in most towns and cities.”
Meanwhile, Detectives are investigating another three alleged major child sex grooming rings in Greater Manchester and have doubled the number of officers working on the inquiries.
The probe has widened significantly since nine Asian men were convicted in May of the systematic grooming and sexual abuse of white girls in Heywood and Rochdale.
Greater Manchester Police announced last night that a further nine men have been charged in connection with the alleged sexual abuse of one teenage girl in Rochdale between 2008 and 2009.
Officers in the region are also investigating three other groups of men alleged to have sexually abused a series of teenage girls, as well as ?numerous? smaller cases involving one alleged victim who says she was abused by one or two men, the Manchester Evening News reported.
The force declined to say precisely how many cases it is investigating but it confirmed that there are now about 400 officers working full-time on child sexual exploitation and other sexual offences.
Detective Chief Superintendent Mary Doyle, head of Greater Manchester Police?s public protection division, said: ?There are currently a number of child sexual exploitation investigations under way across the force, which range from individuals up to large groups of offenders that are loosely connected to each other.
?Some of these investigations have arisen from historic allegations and some are based on new complaints.
?We now have a much better understanding of the signs to look for, plus there have been significant improvements in the sharing of information between agencies. Also, the widespread publicity surrounding recent cases has ensured that victims, witnesses, carers and the wider community are much more alive now to the threat of child sexual exploitation.
?Child sexual exploitation is now one of the force?s top priorities and we are absolutely committed to ensuring it gets the resources that it deserves.?
Meanwhile, Keir Starmer, QC, the Director of Public Prosecutions, has said that a generation of girls had been betrayed by the justice system’s flawed approach to sexual exploitation.
He has ordered a major overhaul of the Crown Prosecution Service’s response to sex grooming, with the aim of increasing the number of convictions.
Mr Starmer admitted that a failure to understand the nature of abuse by police, prosecutors and the courts meant that men who groomed teenagers for sex had escaped justice for decades.
“In a number of cases presented to us, particularly in cases involving groups, there’s clearly an issue of ethnicity that has to be understood and addressed. As prosecutors we shouldn’t shy away from that,? he told The Times.
“But if we’re honest it’s the approach to the victims, the credibility issue, that causes these cases not to be prosecuted in the past. There was a lack of understanding.”
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