A Trafford man has been arrested on suspicion of breaching the anonymity of an alleged sexual abuse victim on Facebook in connection with the on-going Michael Le Vell trial.
The 45-year-old man was arrested on Saturday after allegedly breaching the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1992 which grants all victims of sex abuse anonymity for life.
A second man was interviewed under caution on Thursday in relation to a tweet that was sent about the alleged victim and on Wednesday a 43-year-old man from the Gloucester area was arrested on suspicion of a similar offence.
Detective Chief Inspector Chris Bridge, said: “This case has attracted huge interest and we have seen enormous amounts of comment and personal opinion across social media.
“I want to be explicitly clear – victims of sexual abuse, whether the offences are alleged or proven, are automatically granted anonymity for life and identifying such victims, either deliberately or inadvertently is a criminal offence.
“I also want to stress that ignorance of the law is not a defence and we take these matters very seriously.
“This is the second person to be arrested and a third has been interviewed under caution since the start of the trial because of comments on social media.
“We are monitoring social networks and people are reporting matters to us so it is simply not worth the risk.”
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