TWO former police officers have been charged with the rape and indecent assault of an under age girl while serving at a force's mounted horse section.

Former PC Ian Hopkinson, 63, has been charged with five counts of indecent assault on a girl under the age of 16 years and five counts of rape of a female under 16 years.

Former Sergeant William Baker, 78, has also been charged with three counts of indecent assault on a girl under the age of 16 years and two counts of rape of a female under 16 years.

The offences are alleged to have happened at West Yorkshire Police's Mounted Section which was then based in Pontefract between 1992 and 1995.

A woman came forward in 2023 and reported being the victim of serious sexual offences and an investigation was launched and both men were arrested in June last year.

A 74-year-old man, who was also a West Yorkshire Police officer at the time of the reported offences, was also arrested in June 2024 as part of this investigation.

He has since died and there was no suspicious circumstances surrounding his death.

Baker, of Hayle and Hopkinson, of Redcar North Yorkshire, will both appear at Leeds Magistrates Court on May 7.