A gang of six men has been jailed for a total of 101 years after sexually exploiting five vulnerable teenage girls in Rotherham.
Following a Sheffield Crown Court trial that lasted more than eight weeks, Mohammed Imran Ali Akhtar, 37; Asif Ali, 34; Tanweer Ali, 37; Salah Ahmed El-Hakam, 39; Nabeel Kurshid, 35 and Iqlak Yousaf, 34, were all found guilty of a total of 22 offences.
Their crimes were committed between 1998 and 2005.
The BBC reports that a seventh man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was also convicted on two counts of rape and will be sentenced at a later date.
The complainants explained in statements how the men had “destroyed” them and that their childhood had been taken from them.
One of the victims told a trial how she had been sexually abused by “at least 100 Asian men” by the time she was 16 and another described how she was gang-raped in a forest and threatened with being abandoned there.
On Friday Judge Sarah Wright told the men: “Each in your own way perpetrated, facilitated or encouraged the sexual abuse of these young girls.
“Each of the complainants in this case were groomed, coerced and intimidated. Each of them was groomed. Each of you, groomed.”
Passing sentence, Judge Wright said: “These offences were committed using sophisticated grooming of your victims.
“They were well planned. You can have been in no doubt that the complainants were vulnerable in the extreme.
“You were clearly not immature evidenced by the fact you all indulged in cynical manipulation and exploitation of your victims which showed a maturity well beyond your chronological age.”
She added: “They continue to suffer considerable trauma and will continue to suffer throughout their lives as a result of your actions.”