Man sentenced to 21 years in prison after raping 14-year-old girl in alleyway – after victim came forward to Rotherham sex abuse inquiry | UK news

A man has been sentenced to prison after raping a 14-year-old girl in an alley in Rotherham 21 years ago.

Waleed Ali, 42, was sentenced to five years in prison after a jury found him guilty of raping a girl under the age of 16 at Sheffield Crown Court on Friday, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said.

He had previously been convicted of raping and indecently assaulting another 13-year-old girl in the same alley in early 2003 following an investigation by South Yorkshire Police, the authority added.

His recent conviction was the result of an investigation into historic allegations of abuse in Rotherham, Yorkshire, between 1997 and 2023 – the NCA's Operation Stovewood, the largest investigation into child sexual abuse in the UK.

Ali, from Scunthorpe in Lincolnshire, was arrested and questioned in September 2021 after a woman told Operation Stovewood officers she had been attacked when she was 14 and had not reported it beforehand.

According to the NCA, Ali was in his early 20s and living in Rotherham when he saw the victim sitting alone at a fountain in the town centre one day between March 2003 and March 2004.

He and a group of men approached the girl and ordered her to go with him to a nearby alley, according to the NCA. When she refused, Ali grabbed her arm and tried to force her to stand up.

The girl was “intimidated” by the men and went into the dark alley where Ali raped her “away from public view,” the NCA said.

During questioning in 2021, he told officers their questions made him “sick” and denied the crime.

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Lead investigator Stuart Cobb said: “After speaking to the victim, National Crime Agency officers carefully searched for corroborating evidence.

“The victim suffered in silence for 21 years, but her courageous testimony combined with our investigative work ensured that her attacker was brought to justice.

“I urge all victims of child sexual abuse to seek help, no matter how long ago the abuse occurred. If you feel ready, report the incident to the police, whose officers are specially trained to investigate such cases.”

Earlier this week, seven men were jailed for the child sexual abuse of two young girls in Rotherham in the 2000s as part of Operation Stovewood, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.