A 19-year-old man from Sale has been charged in connection with 12 sexual assault incidents that occurred across Trafford and Cheshire.
Joshua Etchells, of Lowton Road in Sale, has been charged with 12 counts of sexual assault by touching.
He has been remanded in custody and will appear before Manchester and Salford Magistrates’ Court tomorrow.
The charges follow work undertaken by Operation Carbon – a dedicated operation set-up following a number of reports of sexual assault that occurred between Monday 1st March and Sunday 7th March.
In each report, a man has approached the victim from behind on a mountain bike before touching them inappropriately whilst riding past.
The incidents happened across Sale, Altrincham, Timperley, Stretford, Old Trafford and Lymm and were largely centred on canal and river towpaths as well as the transpenine trail.
A 28-year-old man was previously arrested on suspicion of sexual assault but has since been released with no further action.
