Ten appear in court over child sex abuse
Ten men, including one from Halesowen and two from Sandwell, have appeared in court charged in connection with a child prostitution sex ring investigation.
They appeared at Birmingham Magistrates Court for a series of brief hearings to formally hear the charges against them.
Of the accused, nine of the men are alleged to have facilitated the prostitution of a 15-year-old boy.
Six of the defendants also face charges of child rape.
The men were led to the court dock in groups of twos and threes or appeared alone. They spoke only to confirm their names, addresses and dates of birth.
Among them is Allen Priest, 63, of Haywood Bridge, Halesowen, who is charged with two counts of child rape.
Ian Prestleton, 53, of High Hadden Road, Cradley Heath, is also facing a charge of raping a child.
Darren Clegg, 27, of Hillside Drive, Great Barr, is charged with one offence of sexual assault against a teenage boy.
Other accused are Robert Bailey, 26, of Watt Road, Erdington, 67-year-old Peter Lowe, of Salisbury Close, Moseley, and 39-year-old Stephen Kelly of Elm Road, Bournville.
Bailey faces two charges of raping a 15-year-old boy and Lowe is accused of a single count of child rape, all alleged to have happened in 2010.
Peter Joynes, aged 58, of Canberra Way, Highgate, in Birmingham is facing four charges including allegedly sexually assaulting a 14-year-old boy in 2009.
Ronald Potter, 78, of Tippers Lane, Fillongley, in Coventry, is accused of raping a child along with a further two charges of of indecently assaulting a teenage boy between 2001 and 2002.
Ashley Sherrington, aged 24, of Dawlish Drive, Bentley, Stoke-on-Trent, is facing a single count of child rape.
Appearing alongside the men was Michael Godbold, of Uxbridge Road, Shepherds Bush, London.
He is also accused of several child sex offences including two counts of child rape, three of sexual activity with a child, drugs possession offences and of having an imitation firearm.
Last month, another co-defendant 33-year-old Tahir Hussain, appeared before magistrates charged with four counts of rape in connection with the West Midlands Police investigation.
Hussain, of St Joseph's Road, Ward End, Birmingham, is also facing one charge of sexual assault, three of sexual activity with a boy, six of facilitating child prostitution, and a count of trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation.
Hayley Firman, prosecuting, said it was alleged the men were all connected to 'an investigation involving child prostitution'.
All the men indicated not guilty pleas to the charges and will appear at Birmingham Crown Court for a preliminary hearing on August 24.
