A nineteen year old man will appear in court tomorrow in Manchester charged with 12 counts of sexual assault by touching.
Joshua Etchells of Lowton Road, Sale has been remanded in custody and will appear before Manchester and Salford Magistrates’ Court on Monday.
These charges follow work undertaken by Operation Carbon – a dedicated operation set-up following a number of reports of sexual assault that occurred between Monday 1 March and Sunday 7 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.
