Rotherham Asian child sex gang who targeted young girls are caged – THIRTEEN YEARS after one victim first went to cops
Today they were sentenced to jail terms of between five and 19 years each - totalling 96 years behind bars.
EIGHT vile paedophiles who sexually exploited three young girls in Rotherham have been jailed for up to 19 years today.
A month-long trial at Sheffield Crown Court heard how the men "sexualised" their victims and in some cases subjected them to acts of a "degrading and violent nature".
One girl and her family told police, their MP and the then home secretary David Blunkett about the abuse and eventually moved to SPAIN to get away from the men.
The court heard that the victim had gone to the police THIRTEEN YEARS ago in 2003 - saying she had been repeatedly raped by Sageer Hussain when she was 13.
Prosecutor Michelle Colborne QC told the jury that the girl, now in her late 20s, later withdrew the allegations due to threats.
But the court was also told that police lost the her clothes without carrying out any forensic analysis.
The family tried to get help from social services as well and took the girl out of school before eventually moving abroad.
Ms Colborne said the court case was about three victims "who were sexualised and, in some instances, subjected to acts of a degrading and violent nature at the hands of these men".
She said Hussain played a "key role" and was "instrumental in befriending young girls who were flattered that he and his friends spent time with them".
They were then exploited by Hussain, and passed around to his friends and associates.
Last month the jury found them all guilty of a string of violent and disgusting crimes.
The eight men, including four members of the same family, were convicted of all 19 counts, including rape, indecent assault and false imprisonment.
On Friday they were sentenced to jail terms of between five and 19 years each - totalling 96 years behind bars.
Hussain, 30, of Clough Road, Rotherham, was convicted of four rapes and one indecent assault.
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Mohammed Whied, 32, of Psalters Lane, Rotherham, was found guilty of one count of aiding and abetting rape.
Ishtiaq Khaliq, 33, of Cherry Brook, Rotherham, was found guilty of one rape and three indecent assaults.
Waleed Ali, 34, of Canklow Road, Rotherham, was found guilty of one rape and one indecent assault.
Asif Ali, 30, of Clough Road, Rotherham, was convicted of one rape.
Masoued Malik, 32, of Bridgewater Way, Rotherham, was found guilty of one rape, one count of conspiracy to commit indecent assault and one of false imprisonment.
Basharat Hussain, 40, from Goole, was convicted of one indecent assault.
And Naeem Rafiq, 33, of Clarendon Road, Rotherham, was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit indecent assault and one of false imprisonment.
An official inquiry into exploitation in Rotherham in 2014 by Professor Alexis Jay concluded that at least 1,400 children had been raped, trafficked and attacked between 1997 and 2013 by gangs of largely Asian men, and that the victims were effectively ignored.
Speaking after the verdicts last month, Detective Chief Inspector Martin Tate said: "The verdicts are of massive importance to the young women who have come forward to report years of horrific sexual abuse at the hands of these criminals.
"They had to endure what no child should and have shown remarkable bravery throughout our inquiry."
He said: "I am so grateful to these women, many of whom remain incredibly vulnerable, for offering their support to our investigative team and I am so pleased that their voices have been heard and their abusers have been held to account for their vile crimes."
During the trial the court heard how ringleader Sageer Hussain, 30, openly boasted he was racist and told his distraught 13-year-old white victim: “All white girls are good for is sex and they are just sl*gs.”
Prosecutor Michelle Colborne QC said: “These were local girls – some had perfectly normal lives but were lured by the excitement and friendship of older Asian males.”
Sageer Hussain played a key role in “befriending young girls who were flattered that he and his friends wanted to spend time with them”, Ms Colborne said.
The trial heard Hussain used the main complainant for “his own gratification and passed her to friends, older brothers and associates”.
Hussain’s cousins Mohammed Whied and Asif Ali, as well as his older brother Basharat Hussain, were also involved in the gang’s abuse of the girl.
Ms Colborne added: “In the space of months, she had gone from being a normal happy child from a stable supportive family to one who was secretive and distant.
“Her mother watched her daughter change from a loving, lovely girl to one she describes as horrible and she was powerless to control it.”
Ms Colborne said the girl live a “life of deceit and fear” after being lured into it by the gang.
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