Operation Sherwood – Child Sexual Exploitation Investigation On 22 January 2026, a 43-year-old man from Oldham and 53-year-old man from Rochdale were both arrested on suspicion of facilitating a child sexual offence and conspiracy to commit sexual offences. On the same day, a 40-year-old man from Oldham was arrested on suspicion of rape. On 4 February, a further two men based in West Yorkshire were arrested as part of this operation. A 45-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sexual offence and a 39-year-old man on suspicion of rape of a female under 16. All these men have been bailed with strict conditions, and the survivors who have come forward and placed faith in the GMP of today have been updated with the progress being made. These arrests in the last few weeks take the total number to 27 for Operation Sherwood. A 23-year-old man has received a 13-and-a-half year sentence at Manchester Crown Court today (23 February 2026) after pleading guilty to several sexual offences against children. The sentence includes an extended licence period of five years. Omar Saif (09/10/2002) from Rochdale pleaded guilty to the following offences at hearings spanning 2024 – 2026: Two counts of sexual activity with a child under 16 Six counts of sexual communication with a child Two counts of inciting a girl under 16 to engage in sexual activity Blackmail Making indecent photographs of a child (44 Category A, six Category B, 105 Category C) Saif has remained on remand since his arrest in September 2023, after the parent of a 14-year-old girl contacted us to say he had lured the girl to a secluded area close to an allotment in Rochdale and violated her without her consent. Upon analysis of Saif’s mobile devices by our digital forensic experts, we uncovered a significant number of chats with girls aged 13 to 17 across his messages and social media. Much of this chat was found to be sexual in nature, involving him attempting to set up meetings with some of the girls at hotels, encouraging them to remove any boys from their friends list or share their location. He often lied about his age, stating he was younger than he was. He also had coerced some of these girls to send indecent images of themselves to him as they chatted; despite knowing they were not of legal age to do so.
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