Via the Press Association:
Nine men have been jailed after a 14-year-old girl was preyed upon and forced into prostitution.
The vulnerable teenager was targeted with vodka and cigarettes after she was spotted wandering the streets before she was made to have sex with a string of Asian men, Greater Manchester Police said.
The child went missing from home in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, on two occasions in February 2008 before she told officers she had been sexually exploited.
Over the following weeks the girl was spoken to by a specialist team of officers, police said. She was able to identify the places she was taken and the men who had abused her.
The convictions for various offences, including sexual activity with a child, controlling a child prostitute, facilitating child prostitution and paying for sexual services with a child, can be reported following the acquittal of another man at Manchester Crown Court who faced charges in connection with the case.
The girl, who is white, had to testify in separate trials involving the men and was eventually excused further evidence after a third hearing when psychologists ruled there were fears for her mental and physical well-being.
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