Sick Leeds teenager filmed himself raping eight-year-old boy and shared it over Snapchat

Perverted Liam Gandz attacked the boy while he slept and sexually assaulted another 16-year-old boy in the same room, recording them both, Leeds Crown Court was told. Gandz was just 16 himself at the time of the offences, which took place in 2020.

He was sharing the videos with an unnamed female over Snapchat at the time and sent sexualised comments with them.

Prosecutor Philip Standfast said the eldest child had no idea they had been assaulted until the disturbing videos were sent to the eldest victim on Snapchat, which showed Gandz touching the sleeping boy’s genitals while he masturbated himself. It also showed him raping the young boy.

The horrified teenager showed his mother what he had been sent, who contacted the police. Gandz, formerly of Brayton Square, Swarcliffe, was arrested and his mobile phone seized. Following forensic analysis, officers found unrelated child abuse images on his phone ranging from category A – the most serious – to category C.

He gave no comments to police during two interviews in the months that followed.

Gandz, who is now 19, eventually admitted rape of a child, three counts of sexual assault and three counts of making indecent images. He has no previous convictions.

In a victim impact statement from the younger boy’s parents, paraphrased by Mr Standfast, he said they had an “overwhelming sense of guilt” over the attacks, that the abuse has had a “profound impact” on the boy’s life, while describing the trauma as being “immeasurable”.

Mitigating, Catherine Silverton said of Gandz: “He has indicated disgust in himself. He knows he is going to receive an immediate custodial sentence of some length. The impact on the victim is, of course, profound.”

Due to his young age at the time, she pointed out that the sentence should be drastically reduced compared to if he were an adult at the time.

Judge Andrew Stubbs KC said: “You were committing very serious sexual offences. It’s obvious from what you were saying to that other person, you were sexually excited by what you were doing. It’s obvious that you had a sexual interest in young children.

"You were child at the time in the eyes of the law, so there are guidelines that I must have regard to. A lengthy sentence of detention has to be passed. I have seen and read a lot about you and seen what you were sending.

“You understood what consent meant, and the messages you were sending back and forth show me very clearly that you knew what you were doing was very wrong.”

He told him that had he been an adult at the time, he would have received a 12-year sentence, but due to his age, he jailed him for four-and-a-half years. He put him on the sex offenders register for life, and gave him a lifelong sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) to limit his internet use.