– Rochdale Community Forum founder Imam Irfan Chishti"There is an urgent need for all the communities in Rochdale to work together, to tackle this heinous crime."
"Our young children from our borough were abused - and we all have a collective responsibility to ensure we do the best to safeguard our children."
A new community forum is being launched in Rochdale today.
It is after nine men were convicted of grooming girls as young as 13 for sex in Heywood, near Rochdale.
Speakers at the launch event today will include Pater Fahy, the Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, Nazir Afzal, the Chief Crown Prosecutor for the North West and Rochdale Imam Irfan Chishti.
The Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police says the force is continuing to investigate child grooming rings in the area.
Read the full storyManchester's Chief Constable, Peter Fahy, says more arrests are likely in connection with a child grooming ring in Heywood, Rochdale and he wants other victims to come forward. He also said arrests have been made in other sexual abuse cases, and that other trials were pending.
Liverpool crown court heard she started hanging out at the Tasty Bites takeaway in Heywood.
She said she would drink "straight" vodka and started to get calls from men who wanted to "chill" with her. They would pick her up at a Morrison's car park.
She said:
– alleged victimMost of the time I didn't know who it was, they'd just ring me are you coming, and I go yeah, and I didn't care who they were, I didn't know them, didn't know where we were going, just got in the car with people and then they took me to wherever".
She was introduced to Adil Khan, of Oswald Street, Rochdale, known to her as Billy. It was alleged during the relationship the girl got pregnant with Khan's child. She went to a doctor with her mum and had an abortion while the pregnancy was still in its early stages.
Mr Khan and 10 other men accused of sexually abusing young girls in the area all deny the charges against them. The trial continues.
Court hears a 13 year old at the time of the alleged abuse claimed she was in a relationship with one of the defendants.
Read the full storyA teenager allegedly targeted by a child sexual exploitation gang in Heywood told court she would sometimes drink a litre of neat vodka "in one sitting" with the older men. But the girl, aged 13 when the alleged abuse began says she wasn't a victim and a "relationship" with one of the defendants.
