Men jailed for abusing boys over two decades

David Marsh was jailed for 27 years for sexually abusing six boys

Two men have been sentenced to a combined total of more than 30 years in prison for sexually abusing six young boys over two decades.

David Marsh and Anthony Whitehead were previously convicted of grooming and sexually abusing the boys, who were aged between nine and 13 when the abuse started, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said.

Marsh, 74, was sentenced to 27 years in jail while Whitehead, 72, was jailed for seven years for offences committed in in Manchester and Rochdale in the 1980s and 1990s.

DC Andrea Richards said the men, who were tried together in Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court last month, preyed on their victims' "vulnerabilities".

David Marsh and Anthony Whitehead were found guilty following a trial last month

DC Richards said the victims were from "dysfunctional backgrounds" and were approached by Marsh and Whitehead while living on the streets of Rochdale.

She said: "They knew these boys at that time had nothing."

A five-year police investigation began in 2019 after one man confided to a person in authority that he had been sexually abused by two men as a boy.

Investigators found that one of the men was dead but that the second man, Marsh, of Northenden, was alive.

Detectives then began to form a picture of a sustained campaign of offending by Marsh and Whitehead, of Atherton, the force said.

Marsh was convicted of 27 counts of indecent assault, one count of buggery and one count of attempted buggery (now referred to as rape and attempted rape respectively) of victims under 16.

Whitehead was convicted of six counts of indecent assaults of victims under 16.

'There will be more victims'

Anthony Whitehead has been sentenced to seven years' prison.

DC Richards said the two men had not shown any remorse for their offending and believed they had got away with it.

She added: "[Marsh] has deceived these young boys and he's been able to live this life for many years, but now he's eventually been caught."

She said she believed there were more victims who were yet to come forward, adding: "One of the boys said to me that there will be more victims because [Marsh] was so persistent on what he needed from young boys.

"It got to the stage where some of the boys were too old for him so he would then move on to younger boys."

Charity We Are Survivors has been supporting the victims of Marsh and Whitehead throughout the legal process.

Chief executive Duncan Craig urged anyone who had experienced abuse to come forward.

He said: "You do not need to step straight into a police station. There [have been] many, many, many times where people will come to our service and access support for years before they even think about speaking to the police.

"Please don't feel like you're on your own because, even though it does feel like that, I guarantee that you're not."