SEVEN PEOPLE HAVE been arrested in Rochdale in England for conspiracy to commit sexual acts with a child.
Those arrested are six men and a boy aged between 16 and 47.
They stand accused of charges relating to two girls aged 15 and 13 and a 13-year-old boy.
The Sunrise Team, a multi-agency unit dealing with sexual exploitation and related harm in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, said the case came to their attention while investigating why the two girls were going missing from home.
Officers spoke to one of the girls, and it was suggested that they were being groomed between 16 September and 17 October 2014.
Those arrested are described as being of mixed ethnicity and remain in police custody for questioning.
Speaking about the incident, Detective Chief Inspector Andy Aston said:
A swift investigation was launched and agencies worked together which has resulted in these arrests across the Rochdale and Oldham areas plus the safeguarding of three vulnerable children.
Paul Marshall, Assistant Director for Children’s Social Care at Rochdale Borough Council, said:
The success of Operation Infrared means that three vulnerable children are now safe and seven people have been arrested as part of this investigation.
The arrests came as part of multi-agency work being carried out across the Greater Mancester area through Project Pheonix – a plan put in place in 2013 to tackle sexual offences following an 18% increase in the area.
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