Updated
Friday, 11th December 2020, 5:48 pm
The defendants are among 32 men - predominantly from the Kirklees district - charged following an investigation by West Yorkshire Police into the alleged historic abuse of eight girls.
Nine of them appeared before District Judge Michael Fanning at Kirklees Magistrates Court today (Friday), with the case sent to Leeds Crown Court where they will appear on January 8.
A tenth defendant, Michael Birkenshaw, was not present in court due to reportedly displaying symptoms of Covid-19.
Kirklees Magistrates Court
A further 22 men are set to appear before the Bench on Monday.
The men, most of whom are from the Dewsbury and Batley areas, are charged with various offences including rape, inciting sexual activity with a child and trafficking.
11 Dec 2020
Thirty-two men of mostly “Asian” heritage are appearing in court for a range of historic rape, trafficking, drugs, and other alleged offences following a child sexual exploitation probe.
“Thirty-two men… largely from the Kirklees area, have been charged with a variety of offences as part of Operation Tourway, an investigation into non-recent child sexual exploitation in parts of West Yorkshire,” the regional police force reported in an official news bulletin.
“The allegations against the defendants are from 1999 to 2012 and involve offences committed against eight female victims, who were aged between 13 and 16 years old at the time of the alleged offences,” the force added, noting that some of the victims “were also subjected to offences when they were young adults.”
| UPDATED: 07:59, Fri, Dec 11, 2020
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Charges against the men, aged between 31 and 50, cover more than 150 alleged offences in West Yorkshire involving girls aged 13 to 16. They include rape, trafficking, false imprisonment, threats to kill, making an indecent photo of a child, possession of extreme pornographic images, and supplying drugs.