Six men are to appear in court charged with serious sexual offences against a 16-year old girl.
Christopher Kayla-Joseph, 26, of Elphick Rd, Newhaven; Mohammed Kamali, 45, of Harper Rd, Newhaven: Khosrow Sobhanieh, 55, of North Lane, Guestling, near Hastings: Stephen Daramola, 47, of Park Lane, Eastbourne: Khalid Del-Rosario, 44, of Upperton Rd, Eastbourne; and Guiseppe Carella, 18,, of Brighton Rd, Newhaven, are due to appear on bail at Brighton Magistrates Court on Thursday 5 June.
Kayla-Joseph is also charged with two offences of supplying cocaine – one together with the boy and one with Kamali, Daramola, and Del-Rosario. Carella is also charged with rape. Sobhanieh is also charged with two offences of rape.Daramola is also charged with sexual assault.
Operation Firehill
The charges, authorised by the Crown Prosecution Service, follow a 12-month investigation, Operation Firehill, by East Sussex detectives into information that the girl, from Brighton, had allegedly been subjected to the offences whilst staying at a flat in Newhaven in May last year.
This is the first prosecution in Sussex for alleged child sexual exploitation by a group.
Detective Chief Inspector Mark Ling said;
“Although this case is now before the courts, we can say that all reports of this type will be taken seriously and investigated wherever possible. Anyone with information about such alleged offending can contact us via 101 at any time via 101 or email 101@sussex.pnn.police.uk and arrange to speak in confidence to detectives. We can also help arrange access to a range of other support.”