SIXTEEN men, including a police officer, have been charged for sex offences against children aged between 13 and 16, it was reported on Wednesday (18).

West Yorkshire police officer Amjad Ditta, also known as Amjad Hussain, is among men accused of being part of an alleged grooming gang in Halifax. The police officer, 35, has been charged with sexual touching.

He was attached to West Yorkshire Police’s Protective Services Operations at the time of the offence he has been accused of.

Three women have alleged that they were sexually abused between 2006 and 2009.

Metab Islam, 46, is accused of rape, supply of a class C drug, sexual assault and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

Arfan Mir, 36 and also known as Khalifa Mughal, is charged with rape, supply of class A and class C drugs and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

Nadeem Nassir, 39, and Shahzad Nawaz, 40, are both accused of rape, supply of a class C drug and making threats to kill.

Vaseem Adalat, 33, is charged with rape, trafficking and supply of a class C drug.

Christopher Eastwood, 45, Vaqaas Abbas, 30, Nadeem Adalat, 34, Shazad Nazir, 44, and Sohail Zafar, 36, are all charged with rape and supplying a class C drug.

Asad Mahmood, 33, is accused of rape and trafficking.

Younis Mohammed, aged 34 and also known as Younis Khan, is charged with rape and causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent.

Sajid Adalat, 43, and Mohammed Rizwan Iqbal, 34, are charged with rape. Ishtiaq Latif, 32, is accused of sexual activity with a child.

All the accused are from the Halifax area and they will appear at Bradford Magistrates’ Court on January 6.