Three men have been charged with a total of 15 offences of indecent assault against a child in Rotherham following an independent investigation by the National Crime Agency.

Riaz Makhmood, 38, Sajid Ali, 37 and Zaheer Iqbal, 39, all from Rotherham, have been charged with assaulting a girl under the age of 14 between June 1994 and June 1995.

Riaz Makhmood faces three charges of indecent assault; Sajid Ali faces seven charges of indecent assault and Zaheer Iqbal faces five charges of indecent assault.

The three men are the first people to be charged as part of Operation Stovewood, the independent NCA investigation into allegations of non-familial child sexual exploitation and abuse in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013.

The men have been bailed and will appear at Sheffield magistrates court on 9 January.

The NCA launched Operation Stovewood following the publication of the Jay report in 2014 into allegations of widespread sexual abuse of children in Rotherham over a 16-year period from 1997. The report led to the resignation of the South Yorkshire police and crime commissioner Shaun Wright.



To date, the operation has resulted in 15 men being arrested, interviewed and bailed pending further inquiries. The investigation has identified 46 suspects and has begun the process of engaging with 157 victims and survivors.