Man arrested over suspected abduction and sexual assault of six-year-old girl in Manchester

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A 23-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of abduction and sexual assault of a six-year-old girl in Manchester, police said.

The child was taken on Wednesday from Droylsden in Tameside into a wooded area nearby a disused railway track.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said the girl was “safely reunited with her family a short time later” but officers were appealing for help in tracing a man.

The arrest comes after police released a number of CCTV images of a man they wanted to track down, saying he had been “hanging around” prior to the incident.

A 35-year-old man was arrested on Tuesday in connection to the abduction. He was interviewed by detectives but released with no further action being taken, the force said.

The force said in a statement on Friday morning: “This morning, a 23-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of abduction & sexual assault of a six-year-old girl in Droylsden on Wednesday evening. The man remains in custody for questioning. Information can be shared through LiveChat quoting incident 2270 of 17/08.”

Detective Superintendent Richard Hunt, of GMP’s Ashton CID, said: “I’d like to commend the victim for her immense bravery in assisting police officers with our investigation, she is receiving support from specialist officers and partners at this really distressing time.

“Extensive enquiries are ongoing with significant resources and I would like to reassure the community and as a precautionary measure we have extra police officers and PCSOs out and about.

“At this time it does appear to be an isolated incident, but I’ll stress again how keen we are to find the person responsible and bring them to justice as soon as we can.”

Locals have been urged to check CCTV, dashcam video and doorbell footage for any clips that might assist the investigation.

Anyone with information should call police on 0161 856 9262.