Two girls were forced to have sex “with multiple men on the same day, in filthy flats and on rancid mattresses,” the jury in the UK’s latest grooming trial heard Wednesday.
Prosecutor Rossano Scamardella told a court in Manchester that the eight men on trial had abused the two girls from the age of 13 in the north-west England town of Rochdale.
“They were often forced to have oral sex and vaginal sex with multiple men on the same day, in filthy flats and on rancid mattresses,” he said.
“On other occasions, they would be required to have sex in cars, car parks, alleyways or disused warehouses. Wherever and whenever these men wanted it.
“They were children passed around for sex; abused, degraded and then discarded,” he added.
One of the alleged victims was also “being exploited and abused by many other Asian men” not in the dock, said Scamardella.
The issue of grooming gangs received international attention recently when Elon Musk launched incendiary attacks on his X platform against the UK government after it resisted calls for a national inquiry.
Over the course of several decades, men of mostly South Asian origin in various English towns are suspected of having sexually abused thousands of mostly white girls from working-class families, often from troubled homes.
The prosecution said Wednesday that the defendants in Manchester had exploited the girls’ “troubled home lives”.
“It would begin by making the girls feel like grown-ups; given alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, places to stay and people to be with,” said Scamardella.
One defendant “would give them free underwear, money, alcohol and food and in return he expected regular sex for him and other Asian men from Rochdale,” he added.
The girls felt trapped due to blackmail threats and the “fear of being exposed as promiscuous, feelings of shame and embarrassment,” court heard.
The alleged sexual offences, said to be committed between 2001 and 2006, include rape, indecent assault and indecency with a child.
The defendants, whose ages range from 39 to 66, deny all the charges.
Calls for a national inquiry into grooming gangs have intensified recently, with proponents saying it will shine a light on institutional failings.
The prosecution told the court on Wednesday that both girls “were well known to social services and other agencies, and it was no secret that both girls were having sex with older Asian men.
“No reports were made to the police and nothing was done,” said Scamardella.
One of the girls went missing on “countless occasions and Rochdale Child Social Services were contacted but were of the view that little, if anything could be done to help,” he added.
It was not until 2010, when an investigation into child sexual exploitation in the Rochdale area began, that one of the girls was approached.
She initially declined to get involved but contacted police in 2015.