SIX Sussex 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 at Brighton Magistrates' Court on Thursday, June 5.
All six are charged with conspiracy to arrange the prostitution of a child.
Kayla-Joseph is also charged with two offences of supplying cocaine.
Carella is also charged with rape.
Sobhanieh is also charged with two offences of rape.
Daramola is also charged with sexual assault.
The charges, authorised by the Crown Prosecution Service, follow a 12-month investigation, Operation Firehill, by 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."