This is the chilling moment a grinning paedophile said ‘we’re enjoying ourselves’ as a young boy sits on his lap during a holiday in Thailand.
David Marsh, 74, was jailed today for 27 years for grooming and sexually abusing boys between the ages of six and nine in the 1980s and 1990s.
His trial was shown the shocking clip filmed by a bare-chested Marsh after he approached a group of boys on a trip to Thailand.
He can be heard saying ‘we are all enjoying ourselves’ as he takes one of the children onto his lap.
He and fellow paedophile, Anthony Whitehead, 72, were found guilty of 35 historic sex offences in October after brave survivors spoke out.
The pair preyed on six vulnerable boys in Rochdale, Bolton and Manchester in the 1980s and 1990s – grooming them with cigarettes, alcohol and money.
Marsh and Whitehead ‘discarded’ the abused boys leaving them to deal with years of trauma and pain, as they carried on with their seemingly ‘ordinary’ lives.
One of the victims spoke of feeling ‘knee deep in shame’, with most – if not all – having a mistrust of authority, including police.
David Marsh, now 74, filmed himself with a young boy on his lap in Thailand
Marsh (right) and fellow paedophile, Anthony Whitehead, 72, have now been found guilty of 35 historic sex offences
Marsh was today sentenced to 27 years at Manchester Crown Court, whereas Whitehead received a seven-year jail term.
Both men, who did not know each other and carried out separate campaigns of abuse, must serve at least two thirds of their sentence before they are eligible for parole.
Their conviction is the result of a pain-staking five-year investigation that began back in 2019, after one of the survivors, confided in a person of authority that he had been sexually abused by Marsh as boy.
Detectives from Greater Manchester Police’s Rochdale’s Complex Safeguarding Team then worked meticulously to identify any other survivors.
Detective Constable Andrea Richards, who has worked on this case from the start, said: ‘I want to commend the male survivors who have played a crucial role in bringing these abhorrent abusers to long-awaited justice.
‘It was incredibly brave of them to speak about their abuse in what was a difficult and painful process for them to have to go through.
‘These depraved men are exactly where they should be, in jail, away from causing our communities and those within it any further harm.
He can be heard saying ‘we are all enjoying ourselves’ as he takes one of the children onto his lap
Pictured: Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court where the pair were jailed
‘There may be others affected by Marsh and Whitehead’s separate campaigns of offending, and we would like to let all survivors of sexual abuse know that we are here to listen to them when they are ready, at a pace they feel comfortable with.
‘There are also several agencies, that are not the police, who we work closely with to support survivors for those who would feel more comfortable taking this approach.
‘We continue to be on an upward improvement journey in how we tackle CSE – whether it be the abuse of children yesterday or today.
‘We hope that this conviction, and our continuously improving outcomes for victims, give survivors that we will ensure time is no barrier to justice.’
