Coronation Street actor Michael Le Vell has been charged with child sex offences.
The 48-year-old, whose real name is Michael Turner, is accused of 19 sex offences including raping a child, indecently assaulting a child and sexual activity with a child.
The British television soap opera actor, who plays garage boss Kevin Webster, will appear in court on 27 February, Greater Manchester Police said on Thursday.
Mr Le Vell was first arrested in September 2011 and questioned over alleged child sex offences, but the matter was later dropped, PA reports.
But late on Thursday night, police said the actor from Hale in Cheshire had been charged with sex offences against a youngster after a review of evidence by lawyers from the Crown Prosecution Service.
Police said the charges relate to offences against a child between 2001 and 2010.
Alison Levitt, QC, and principal legal adviser to the Director of Public Prosecutions, reviewed a file of evidence in relation to allegations of sexual offences and looked again at a decision previously made not to prosecute.
Ms Levitt said: "I have very carefully reviewed the evidence in this case and I have concluded that there is sufficient evidence and it is in the public interest to charge Michael Robert Turner with a number of sexual offences."
