Men charged with indecently assaulting girl in Rotherham

Riaz Makhmood, aged 38, Sajid Ali, 37 and Zaheer Iqbal, 39, all from the Masbrough area of Rotherham, were charged after an investigation by the National Crime Agency into abuse alleged to have been committed between June 1994 and June 1995.

Ali is accused of seven counts of indecent assault, Iqbal faces five charges and Makhmood faces three.They are the first men to be charged as part of Operation Stovewood - an independent National Crime Agency investigation into cases of child sexual exploitation and abuse in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013.

They have been granted bail and are due to appear at Sheffield Magistrates' Court on January 9.A total of 15 men have been arrested as part of Operation Stovewood, which has identified 46 suspects and 157 victims.