Seven in court on child sex charges

Seven men have been charged with a range of offences against a 14-year-old girl
8 March 2013

Seven men have appeared in court charged with a range of offences against a 14-year-old girl, including rape, attempted rape and human trafficking for sexual exploitation.

The men, arrested earlier this week in a series of dawn raids, appeared at Thames Magistrates' Court where they were remanded in custody to appear at Inner London Crown Court on May 17, a police spokesman confirmed.

All seven men are charged with conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a child, as well as various other sexual offences, said to have happened between May and November 2012.

Desmond Agyei, 23, of Kiwi Terrace, Brighton Road, East Ham is charged with four counts of rape, one count of attempted rape and trafficking a person within the UK for sexual exploitation.

Edward Kofi Edunya, 23, of Artisan Close, East Ham, and Perry Murray, 24, of Park Grove, Newham, east London, are each charged with one count of rape, and David Sarpong, 23, of Cedar Close, Ilford, is charged with two counts of rape and one of attempted rape.

Adedeji Atitebi, 21, of Lonsdale Avenue, Newham, is charged with trafficking a person within the UK for sexual exploitation and one count of voyeurism.

Austin Odisi, 24, of Oxleas, East Ham, has also been charged with eight counts of rape and Justin Maynard, 23, of Bluebell Avenue, Manor Park, has also been charged with five counts of rape.

The men were held in a series of dawn raids on Wednesday, when police swooped on addresses in Newham, Redbridge and Havering in east London, as well as one in Hertfordshire.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said a 23-year-old man arrested on suspicion of rape and sexual assault has been bailed to a date in June pending further queries, while three other people arrested for fraud-related offences have also been bailed to June.

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