Victoria Agoglia: Rape arrest as part of new grooming probe

Victoria Agoglia who was in care died in 2003, aged 15

A man has been arrested on suspicion of raping a teenage grooming victim 17 years after her death.

Victoria Agoglia, 15, died in 2003, two months after reporting that an older man had sexually assaulted her and injected her with heroin.

An investigation into grooming gangs dropped in 2005 resumed after Greater Manchester Police faced criticism over its handling of Victoria's case.

The 41-year-old suspect was one of three men arrested in the new inquiry.

Dubbed Operation Green Jacket, it has so far made six arrests and identified 126 suspected paedophiles.

The 41-year-old was held on suspicion of the rape and indecent assault of Victoria, causing the prostitution of a girl under 16 and the supply of Class A and B drugs

A further arrest, of a 49-year-old man accused of raping and indecently assaulting another victim under 16, was also made.

The force said a third man, 38, was arrested and bailed last month on suspicion of the rape of a third child victim and supplying a Class A drug.

Three other men were arrested and bailed earlier this year, including a key worker employed by Manchester City Council.

At the time of Victoria's death at least 97 potential suspects were identified as part of Operation Augusta but "very few" faced justice, an independent review found.

The report was commissioned by Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham after the 2017 BBC documentary The Betrayed Girls which focused on Victoria, who was in care.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct is investigating three former senior GMP officers involved in Operation Augusta.

Assistant Chief Constable Mabs Hussain said GMP was also setting up another investigation - Operation Exmoor.

"We're assessing a number of victims involved in a historic operation in Rochdale and have identified... victims who will form part of a new operation."

"We believe there are lines of inquiry which will lead to the arrest of perpetrators who committed abuse against vulnerable children."