Four Bradford men have been found guilty of their role in the sexual exploitation of a vulnerable girl in Bradford more than 20 years ago.

The Crown Prosecution Service’s specialist Organised Child Sexual Abuse Unit prosecuted the defendants following an investigation by West Yorkshire Police. This was a re-trial after there was a hung jury in an earlier trial.

Mohammed Baig, 47, has been found guilty at Bradford Crown Court today (July 22) of three counts of rape and two counts of indecent assault. Sohail Hussain, 40, was convicted of rape and indecent assault and Mohammed Suleman, 45, was found guilty of two counts of indecent assault. Khurram Iqbal, 39, was found guilty of indecent assault.

Between 2002 and 2004, the victim, aged 13 to 16, was particularly vulnerable spending time in local authority care during the offending period.

She was assaulted by each defendant separately during this time, with some defendants abusing her on multiple occasions. Mohammed Baig also raped the victim on one occasion in 2009.

At the time of offending, Mohammed Baig was 23 to 24 years of age and 29 years of age. Mohammed Suleman was 21 to 22 years of age. Khurram Iqbal and Sohail Hussain were both aged 16 to 17.

These convictions are part of a wider case where nine men have already been convicted of offences against the same victim.

Martin McRobb, Specialist Prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service’s Organised Child Sexual Abuse Unit, said: “Mohammed Baig, Mohammed Suleman, Khurram Iqbal and Sohail Hussain deliberately targeted a child and exploited her vulnerabilities for their own sexual gratification. The victim was manipulated, threatened, passed around and treated as an object by men who showed a callous disregard for her wellbeing and dignity.

“The enormous scale of sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of these men and others has had a profound and lasting impact on her life. Despite this trauma, she has shown extraordinary courage and resilience in coming forward and remaining engaged throughout this lengthy legal process. We hope she can take some comfort from knowing her evidence was instrumental in securing justice.

“This has been a complex and challenging case which, due to the number of defendants involved, required us to prepare for and present evidence in separate trials to successfully secure this outcome.

"The Crown Prosecution Service remains committed to prosecuting those who commit child sexual abuse, no matter how much time has passed since the offending took place and we encourage anyone to report such offending to the police.”

To deal with the most complex and challenging child sexual abuse cases like this, the CPS has established a dedicated national Organised Child Sexual Abuse Unit where specialist prosecutors use their expertise and experience to build strong cases and increase the number of successful prosecutions.