Restrictions lifted as man is named as child sex abuser in Rotherham case

A man can today be named as a child sex abuser after reporting restrictions banning his identification were lifted.
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Mohammed Ashan, aged 35, of HMP Wymott, pleaded guilty to three charges of indecent assault against a girl under the age of 16.

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He admitted the crimes before a trial in which six other men were found guilty of a string of sex offences concluded at Sheffield Crown Court yesterday.

Mohammed AshanMohammed Ashan
Mohammed Ashan
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Aftab Hussain, aged 40, Abid Saddiq, aged 38, Masaued Malik, aged 35, all of Doncaster Prison, Sharaz Hussain, aged 35, of Fitzwilliam Road, Eastwood, and another man, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, are due to be sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court tomorrow. Another man, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, will be sentenced following the conclusion of a trial next February.

Mohammed Ashan will be sentenced on a date to be fixed.

The offences relate to the abuse of seven girls who were all under the age of 16 between 1998 and 2002 in Rotherham and the surrounding areas.
 


Police said the girls, who were all vulnerable and craving attention and love, were deliberately targeted for the sole purpose of becoming sexual objects for the men.

Clockwise from top left: Aftab Hussain, Sharaz Hussain, Abid Saddiq and Masaued Malik.Clockwise from top left: Aftab Hussain, Sharaz Hussain, Abid Saddiq and Masaued Malik.
Clockwise from top left: Aftab Hussain, Sharaz Hussain, Abid Saddiq and Masaued Malik.

They were given alcohol and drugs, belittled and passed around to other men for their gratification.

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All seven suffer the emotional effects of the abuse to this day.

After the case, Philip Marshall, senior investigating officer, said: "Today, seven more men join the other 14 who have already been convicted of sexually abusing young girls in Rotherham, going back as far as 1997. They exploited vulnerable girls for their own sexual gratification and I am glad that today, they have been held accountable for their devastating actions.

“The victims in this case have shown immense courage and bravery in re-living what happened to them and I would like to thank them for helping us bring their abusers to justice.

“I hope these convictions build confidence with the victims and survivors we are currently working with – and those who are yet to come forward – showing that we will listen to you and do all we can to get positive court outcomes.

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“We still have a lot of work to do and are not complacent about the task we face – Stovewood is complex in its nature and scale but this will not diminish the pace of our effort."

The convictions are the latest to arise from the huge National Crime Agency investigation into what happened in the South Yorkshire town between 1997 and 2013.

The NCA was invited in following the Jay Report which shocked the nation in 2014 when it outlined the scale of the offending against children in the town.

The agency - which now has more than 200 people working on Operation Stovewood and had a budget last year of just under £12 million - has now engaged with 313 alleged victims and survivors and identified 190 suspects.