📺 DETAIL: Nine men, aged between 54 and 76 years old, were charged last week. The men charged were Shafaq Mohammed, Syed Mohammad Ashan Taqvi, Mohammed Sheikh Abdul Hannan, Kevin Lawrence, Sheikh Mohammed Tahir Ullah, Aminur Rahman Chowdhury, Shakeel Babur, Murad Ali, and Mohammed Ramzan. The men were
arrested this month following an investigation across Birmingham, Lancashire, and
London, in England; Argyll and Bute in Scotland; and Newport and Swansea in Wales. They appeared at
Newport Magistrates’ Court on Friday. Due to the severity of the cases, the men will appear at
Cardiff Crown Court in Wales on August 21. Described by the police as a “complex and long-running investigation into
group-based child sexual exploitation in south Wales,” Operation Oak was launched after multiple women reported being sexually abused over the span of
11 years between 1985 and 1996. The eight victims were children at the time, and the abuse took place in Wales. The men were charged with
the rape of a female under 16, the rape of a female aged 16 years or over,
indecent assault, aiding and abetting the rape of a female under 16,
aiding and abetting the rape of a female aged 16 or over,
conspiring to rape a girl under the age of 16, conspiring to rape a woman aged 16 years or over, causing the
prostitution of a woman, and
causing the prostitution of a girl under 16. Despite the seriousness of the offenses, the defendants were
granted bail. 🎯 IMPACT: This represents the first court appearance of the nine men since
they were charged last week. “We have decided to prosecute eight men with
rape and child sexual abuse charges for alleged offending… following a Gwent Police investigation into organised grooming gang activity in South Wales,” said Chief Crown Prosecutor Jenny Hopkins at the time. The case represents another episode in
the broader grooming gang scandal in the United Kingdom.
