Police 'welcome' sentence for depraved Leeds teenager who filmed himself raping a child

Liam Gandz, 19, was given a four-and-a-half-year sentence at Leeds Crown Court this afternoon for the sickening sex assault as the boy slept, as well as groping another teenager in the same room as he also slept.

He then sent the videos to an unnamed female accompanied with vile comments, which the judge said made it "clear” he had a sexual interest in children.

Gandz was just 16 at the time of the attacks, so his sentence was vastly reduced from what it may have been, had he been an adult at the time.

But Detective Inspector Vicky Vessey, speaking on behalf of West Yorkshire Police’s Leeds District Safeguarding Unit said: “We welcome the sentence handed down to Gandz today for his truly horrific actions.

“He put a young and vulnerable victim through a horrendous ordeal and I’m glad that he is behind bars for his abhorrent actions.

“West Yorkshire Police have special teams of officers who work tirelessly to investigate crimes against children, and I would encourage anyone who has any information about sexual offending against children to contact us.”

In a victim impact statement from the younger boy’s parents, read out in court by prosecutor Philip Standfast, he said the 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”.