Rotherham child sex abuse: Seventh convicted man named
A seventh man has been convicted over the sexual exploitation of teenage girls in Rotherham more than a decade ago, it can now be revealed.
Six men were found guilty on Wednesday of a string of sex offences following a five-week trial at Sheffield Crown Court. There had previously been a restriction on naming Mohammed Ashan, 35, who pleaded guilty to indecent assault charges before the trial began. He will be sentenced at a later date. Ashan, of HMP Wymott, admitted three counts of indecent assault against girls under the age of 16. Abid Saddiq, 38, was convicted on Wednesday of two counts of rape, five of indecent assault, and two of child abduction. Sharaz Hussain, 35, Masaued Malik, 35, and Aftab Hussain, 40, were found guilty of indecent assault. Two other defendants, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were convicted of rape and indecent assault. The court heard the men abused their victims between 1998 and 2002. Five of the six are due to be sentenced on Friday. The convictions are the latest to arise from Operation Stovewood, a major National Crime Agency (NCA) investigation. It looked into sexual abuse and exploitation in Rotherham covering the years 1997 to 2013. The agency has said it believes 1,510 teenagers were exploited in the town during the period. Follow BBC Yorkshire on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to yorkslincs.news@bbc.co.uk.