June 2020 Baby rapist convicted of raping seven-year-old boy A ‘predatory’ paedophile has been convicted of raping a seven-year-old boy – years before he went to jail for sexually assaulting a newborn baby. Liam Marrow was 16-years-old when he targeted, groomed and twice raped a seven-year-old boy in Wigan. He also attempted to rape the boy again. It was only in 2018 that the brave victim felt able to come forward and report what had happened to him as a young child. In the meantime, Marrow was convicted after trial of two counts of sexual assault by penetration of a newborn baby girl and was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment and six years on licence in 2013 at Preston Crown Court. Now 32, Marrow has again been convicted following a trail. This time for two counts of rape and one count of attempted rape of the young boy in Wigan. He was on Friday sentenced at Bolton Crown Court. Marrow, a teenager at the time, twice lured his infant victim into a concealed wooded area on common land before raping him, heard the court. Marrow also attempted to rape the child, this time in a neighbour’s back garden and was only stopped when a third party intervened. Marrow’s victim, now in his 20s, says he refrained from coming forward for years to avoid causing his family distress. “It was a long time ago but I can still remember how angry I felt,” said the victim in an impact statement read out in court. “I remember feeling unable to deal with or understand what had actually happened to me – and what or how to tell my mum and dad, so I didn’t. “I was so angry and frustrated, I never felt able to tell anyone else. “Over the years, I felt this had an adverse affect on my personality and my ability at school. I honestly believe I would not have been so angry and would have been a happier child. “As I began a relationship, I got to the point where I was just trying to deal with it myself. I told my girlfriend and she was so upset, it was then I realised how it would be to tell my mum, dad and family. “I never wanted to them to be upset like she was because of me. That was one of the reasons it took me so long to speak to the police” But by October 2018, the struggling victim reached ‘breaking point’, saying: “I had just reached breaking point with my emotions. “I was not sleeping, I was taking medication for depression. “The only way to move on was to come forward to the police. I have never seen my dad cry like that.” The victim said he could still hear Marrow’s voice and the words Marrow said to him while he was being raped. He had to recount all of the detail as he gave evidence at trial. “I worry that they will be with me forever,” said the victim. Judge Martin Walsh ruled that Marrow had knowledge that what he was doing was wrong, branding the behaviour ‘predatory’. “The offences were committed by you when you were 16 to 17-years-old. “The victim was a little boy at the time – no older that seven or eight-years-old,” said the judge. “These offences were predatory. The boy lived in the same locality as you. “On each occasion you took him to a concealed location and pressure was placed upon your victim to not tell anyone about what had taken place. “It is clear that the complainant was in fear of you. “It is clear from the furtive manner in which you carried out these offences that you fully appreciated at the time that what you were doing was wrong.” Marrow has been in jail for seven years after being convicted of sexually assaulting a newborn and was due for parole in September – even finding accommodation on the outside, said Mr Akin-Olugbade. That has now ‘fallen by the wayside’, said the defence. Judge Walsh deemed that Marrow is still of ‘significant risk to the public’ and sentenced him to another 12 years imprisonment and six years on licence, to be served concurrently with his prior sentence. The judge instructed that Marrow is not to be released until at least two-thirds of his time in prison has been served and a parole board has reviewed his case.