Police constable among sixteen men charged in child sex exploitation investigation in Halifax

Sixteen men, including one police officer, have been charged over allegations of historic child sexual exploitation in Yorkshire.

The alleged offences took place in the town of Halifax between 2006 and 2009, West Yorkshire Police said.

The alleged victims were aged between 13 and 16 at the time, the force confirmed.

Detectives said one of the men charged, Amjad Ditta, 35, is a police constable based within West Yorkshire Police's Protective Services Operations.

He was a serving police officer at the time of an alleged offence in 2009.

He has now been suspended from duty and is due to appear at Bradford Magistrates' Court on January 6, 2020, alongside the other 15 men.

The men, who are all from Halifax, have been named as:

• A man known only as Ditta, charged with sexual touching.

• Vaqaas Abbas, 30, charged with three counts of rape and three of supplying a class C drug

• Nadeem Adalat, 34, faces four charges of rape and four of supply of a class C drug.

• Sajid Adalat, 43, is charged with rape.

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

• Christopher Eastwood, 45, charged with two counts of rape and two counts of supply of a class C drug.

• Metab Islam, 46, charged with six counts of rape, six of supply of a class C drug, two of sexual assault and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

• Mohammed Rizwan Iqbal, 34, charged with rape.

• Ishtiaq Latif, 32, is charged with sexual activity with a child.

• Asad Mahmood, 33, charged with rape and trafficking.

• Arfan Mir, 36, charged with six counts of rape, supply of a class C drug, supply of a class A drug and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

• Younis Mohammed, 34, charged with rape and causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent.

• Nadeem Nassir, 39, charged with rape, supply of a class C drug and making threats to kill.

• Shahzad Nawaz, 40, charged with rape, supply of a class C drug and making threats to kill.

• Shazad Nazir, 44, charged with two counts of rape and supply of a class C drug.

• Sohail Zafar, 36, charged with rape and supplying a class C drug.