Three men charged with raping two teenage girls

Three men have appeared in court charged with rape and other offences following an investigation into the abuse of two teenage girls in Rotherham.

Basharat Dad, 40, Nasser Dad, 44, and Reza Tavakoli, 54, were arrested as part of the National Crime Agency's (NCA) Operation Stovewood, which is investigating child sexual exploitation in the South Yorkshire town between 1997 and 2013.

The alleged offences are said to have taken place between March 2004 and December 2009 and involved two female victims who were aged between 13 and 16 at the time.

All three men appeared at Sheffield Magistrates' Court on Monday.

Basharat Dad, formerly of Rotherham, is charged with 13 counts of rape, four offences of trafficking within the UK for sexual exploitation, and one offence of false imprisonment.

Nasser Dad, also formerly of Rotherham, is charged with two counts of rape.

Reza Tavakoli, of Upperthorpe, Sheffield, is charged with one offence of rape and one of false imprisonment.

Basharat Dad and Nasser Dad were remanded in custody and Tavakoli was bailed, the NCA said.

They will appear at Sheffield Crown Court on 17 February.

Operation Stovewood was set up in the wake of the Jay Report, which found that at least 1,400 girls were abused by gangs of men of mainly Pakistani heritage in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013.

The NCA says Stovewood is the single largest law enforcement operation of its kind ever undertaken in the UK and has identified more than 1,100 children involved in the exploitation between 1997 and 2013 - almost all girls.

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