A MAN was due to appear in court today charged with the rape of a schoolgirl.
The 22-year-old from Hindley, who has not yet been named, was arrested at his home on suspicion of rape on Thursday night and was quizzed by detectives at Leigh police station before being charged late yesterday.
He was due to appear before Bolton magistrates today.
The alleged sex attack was carried out on a 12-year-old girl in a secluded field, off Smallbrook Lane, on the Westhoughton and Leigh border.
The girl, from the Westleigh area, was playing with a 13-year-old friend in fields about three quarters of a mile from the main road when the alleged attack took place.
The 12-year-old and her friend, who witnessed the incident on Sunday evening, ran to nearby houses to raise the alarm.
Police conducted a large search of the area which also involved the police helicopter and door to door inquiries.
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