More arrests over historic child sex abuse in Rotherham

The arrests relate to allegations of abuse involving four girls in Rotherham around 20 years ago.

LATEST: Sheffield girl in wheelchair mugged on one of her first trips outside – after months of shielding

National Crime Agency officers made the series of arrests across South and West Yorkshire this week as part of Operation Stovewood, which has been running for a number of years and is looking into allegations of child sex abuse between 1997 and 2013.

All those detained were aged between 35 and 53, and were arrested on suspicion of offences relating to the abuse of girls who would have been between aged between 11 and 16 at the time.

CRIME: Popular Sheffield dad ‘died of stab wound to his chest’ as inquest into death opens

All were questioned and released while investigations continue.It follows the arrest of five men in Rotherham and Leeds in a series of operations which took place between July 28 and 30 as part of the same investigation.

A sixth individual was detained last week.The arrests mean that around 150 people have now been arrested as part of Operation Stovewood and jail terms of almost 250 years have been handed down to the 20 people convicted so far.Philip Marshall, senior investigating officer for Operation Stovewood, said: “This has been a significant week of operational activity and, working closely with local partners in Rotherham and across Yorkshire, we continue to focus on supporting victims and bringing offenders to justice as part of Operation Stovewood.“While that work goes on it is important we still reach out and appeal to victims or witnesses to come forward.