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The Rochdale sex trafficking gang was a group of paedophiles that preyed on under-age white girls in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England. They were predominantly British Pakistanis, and were the first people in Britain to be convicted of sex trafficking, on 8 May 2012. Other offenses included rape, trafficking girls for sex and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child. Five girls were identified as victims of child sexual exploitation and a further 42 were identified during the police investigation.

The abuse began in 2008 and involved a group of men aged between 24 and 59 that had come to know each other through various ways. Two of the them worked at the same taxi firm and another two worked at a takeaway restaurant. Some came from the same village in Pakistan and another pair shared a flat together. Nine of the men were British Pakistani and another one was an Afghani asylum-seeker. The men worked together to secure for themselves underage girls for sex.

The abuse was centered around two takeaways in Heywood, Rochdale. The victims were vulnerable teenagers from "chaotic", broken families and "council estate" backgrounds. The girls were targeted in "honeypot locations" where young people would regularly congregate, such as outside takeaways. The victims were plied with drugs and alcohol and were passed around to friends and family to use them for sex.The eldest member of the gang, a 59-year-old, raped one of the girls on a bare mattress in a bedroom above the Balti House takeaway. The girls were beaten and forced into having sex with several men, several times a week. The gang used a former victim, a 15-year-old white girl who had become the girlfriend of one of the gang members, to recruit other girls. The girls were driven to houses around the north of England, and were violently raped by paedophiles who had paid small sums of money for these encounters. Girls as young as thirteen were taken to towns and cities in North England including Rochdale, Oldham, Nelson, Bradford and Leeds. Some of the girls were were raped by up to five men at a time. One victim had sex with 20 men in one night while drunk and another was raped by two men while she was vomiting over the side of a bed. One of the thirteen-year-olds aborted her child after becoming pregnant.

The gang were chiefly British Pakistani men, most of them married and well respected within their community.Mohammed Shafiq, chief executive of of the Ramadhan Foundation, accused elders of the Pakistani community of "burying their heads in the sand" on the matter of sexual grooming. He said that of the 68 recent convictions involving child sexual exploitation, 59 were of British Pakistani men and this was a significant problem for the British Pakistani community. He said that the actions of these criminals who thought that "white teenage girls are worthless and can be abused" were "bringing shame on our community."The Rochdale Council of Mosques condemned the "horrific crimes" committed by the nine men.

The case raised concerns about the racial tensions in the north-west.There were suggestions that the police and and social work departments failed to act when details first emerged about the Asian paedophile gang for fear of appearing racist, and were ignoring that vulnerable white teenagers were being groomed by Asian men, the vast majority of them Pakistani.In a BBC documentary investigating the grooming of young girls for sex by some Pakistani men, Imam Irfan Chishti from the Rochdale Council of Mosques deplored this practice and said that it was "very shocking to see fellow British Muslims brought to court for this kind of horrific offence."Ann Cryer, the former MP for Keighley, posited that the practice of arranged marriages, involving the arrival of young, uneducated men suddenly from villages in Pakistan, might have a bearing on this issue. Although the age of consent is the same in Pakistan and Britain, girls can be married in Pakistan upon reaching puberty.

Some of the gang members told the court that the girls were willing participants, and were happy having sex with the men. A 59-year-old claimed that the girls were "prostitutes" that had been running a "business empire" and that it was all "white lies". He shouted in court, "Where are the white people? You have only got my kind here."

References

1. "Rochdale grooming trial: gang convicted for sex trafficking". The Telegraph. 8 May, 2012. Retrieved May 8, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
2. ^ "Rochdale child sex ring case: respected men who preyed on the vulnerable". The Guardian. Retrieved May 8, 2012.
3. ^ "Rochdale grooming trial: Nine found guilty of child sex charges". BBC. Retrieved May 08, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
4. "Rochdale grooming trial: how the case unfolded". The Telegraph. Retrieved May 09, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
5. ^ "Gang Found Guilty Of Child Sex Crimes". Sky News. Retrieved May 08, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
6. "Profiles Of Child Sex Abuse Gang Members". Sky News. Retrieved May 08, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
7. "Rochdale Child Sex Ring: 'Master', 'Tiger' and Seven Others Guilty of Rape and Trafficking". IB Times. Retrieved 8 May, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
8. "Nine men found guilty of sexually abusing vulnerable girls in Rochdale". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 May, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
9. "Child Sex Trial: Rochdale Council of Mosques response". Rochdale News. Retrieved May 08, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
10. "Rochdale grooming trial: Police accused of failing to investigate paedophile gang for fear of appearing racist". The Telegraph. Retrieved May 09, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
11. ^ "Rochdale grooming trial: Asian grooming gangs, the uncomfortable issue". The Telegraph. Retrieved May 09, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
12. "Rochdale featured in sex grooming documentary". Rochdale News. Retrieved May 09, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
13. "Heywood: Rochdale town at the centre of child sex ring". BBC. Retrieved May 09, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
14. "Child sex victims were prostitutes with enough business acumen to win The Apprentice', man at centre of sex gang trial tells court". Daily Mail. Retrieved May 08, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)

• Rochdale
• British people convicted of child sexual abuse
• Crime in England
• Forced prostitution
• Sexual abuse
• Sex crimes
• Rape
• Child prostitution