Two paedophiles held a little boy down on a bed and abused him as he told them to let go.
Gareth Culshaw, 52, recently of HMP Altcourse, chatted briefly with accomplice John O’Brien, 67, of Stonelea, Windmill Hill, Runcorn, as they were reunited in disgrace in the dock at Chester Crown Court for sentence on March 24 . Culshaw had previously pleaded guilty to seven charges of sexual assault of a child under 13 relating to two young children - and one of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity in relation to one of the "defenceless and innocent" victims.
O’Brien was convicted at trial of one count of sexual assault of a child under 13 years of age relating to a joint offence with Culshaw and representing at least two instances of touching. On Friday at Chester, Myles Wilson, prosecuting, told how the vile abuse occurred during the 2010s.
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Three of the counts against "Gary" Culshaw, who lived in Runcorn at the time of the offences, were sexual assaults of a little girl, whom he assaulted twice in a car and a third time in a house as he “pulled his own trousers down” and “pulled her pants down”.
When he preyed on a little boy, Culshaw would touch him, and on one occasion he grabbed the boy’s hand and made him touch his abuser over clothing.
The boy was abused at least twice by Culshaw and Culshaw’s accomplice O’Brien, including when the young victim was held down on a bed.
Details of the shocking ordeals came to light when an adult overheard a conversation between a child and one of the victims and asked “what that was all about”, and alerted the boy’s parents, prompting contact with Cheshire Police.
In her interview with investigators, the girl said Culshaw had driven her to some woods and began removing his and her clothes in the back seat but stopped when a car drove past, before he returned to the driver’s seat and drove off.
A similar incident happened in a car park in Widnes where she remembered “crying, shutting her eyes, feeling his hand on her face” before again he sat back in the front seat, and a third similar incident happened in a house.
The young boy said his abuse took place in Culshaw’s bed.
As he began to open up about what happened, he told his family he was also assaulted by a man called "Jimmy", whom he would later identify as O’Brien in a video ID parade.
Assaults involved the boy being "pushed" onto the bed and the abusers taking off their tops and watching each other committing abuse.
There was also an occasion when "both got on the bed with tops off touching him" and he told them "to get off".
When interviewed by police, Culshaw and O’Brien denied the allegations, but were convicted via guilty eight pleas in the case of Culshaw and a guilty verdict at trial for O’Brien.
A victim statement from the boy’s dad said that since the disclosures, his son has suffered "mood swings" due to being "deeply affected by the sexual abuse he’s suffered".
The dad said the impact was "draining and devastating" for them, while the boy said his ordeal has left him "worried and scared" in case "Culshaw came to get him", as well as suffering nightmares.
There was no personal statement in relation to the girl.
Mr Wilson said Culshaw was previously sentenced to 10 years at Chester Crown Court in 2017 for three counts of rape of a teenage girl under the age of 16, in an unconnected case.
O’Brien had no previous convictions.
Matthew Dunford, appearing for Culshaw, said Culshaw had pleaded guilty to the charges, "albeit at a late stage" and after a "Section 28" vulnerable victim interview but before jurors were sworn.
He said the author of Culshaw’s pre-sentence report said she "hopes he uses his time constructively while in prison", with Mr Dunford adding: "In my submission he’s already seeking to do that."
Mr Dunford said Culshaw’s answer was "unambiguous and clear", telling the court: "He will and will engage with all courses put to him.
"He’s very keen he makes sure he never comes before the courts again for any offence, or certainly not for offences of this type."
He added Culshaw’s "elderly" mother suffers ill health and Culshaw "wishes to be able to support her in due course as much as he can".
Mr Dunford also argued that had Culshaw been sentenced for these offences around the time of his previous rape convictions, the overall combined sentence might have been lower than being sentenced in 2017 for one set of offences and for others in 2023.
That argument didn’t convince the judge, Recorder Lawrence McDonald, who rebutted the claim by telling Culshaw if he wanted his crimes to be dealt with together, "it was open to you to ask for these to be dealt with at the same time".
Carmel Wilde, appearing for O’Brien, said O’Brien had no previous convictions.
She agreed with the prosecution’s categorisations of the case, adding she didn’t "seek to minimise the awful effect that this offending has had on (his victim) as his father has movingly described in the personal statement".
Ms Wilde said there were some aggravating features but said the court could "consider imposing something at the lower end of that (sentencing range) scale".
She said O’Brien has been his wife-of-44-years’ full-time carer for more than 20 years due to her poor health, and suffers ill health himself including diabetes, high blood pressure, a "huge" and "visible" hernia, as well as a slow form of skin cancer.
Recorder Lawrence McDonald sentenced Culshaw to 11 years in prison, with two thirds to be served before consideration for parole, and O’Brien to four years and six months.
He said Culshaw had used the boy for his "own sexual gratification" and the abuse involved having "licked him", and in the joint offence Culshaw and O’Brien had "held him down on the bed and forcibly touched him".
Recorder Lawrence said: "This catalogue of sexual abuse of two very young children over a period of years displays the depths of depravity to which both of you sank."
The judge said the victims were "extremely vulnerable".
He added: "They were entirely defenceless and innocent young children who you abused, both of you for your own gratification."
Recorder McDonald ordered Sexual Harm Prevention Orders for both defendants and said both would remain on the sex offenders register for life.
The judge held back from subjecting Culshaw to extended licence under the "dangerousness" provisions, though noted this did not mean Culshaw was not a "danger" to children.
He added they would have to pay a statutory surcharge.
The identities of Culshaw and O’Brien’s victims, who were younger than 10 years of age at the time of the offences, are protected for life under UK law.
Cheshire Police provided a custody picture of Culshaw but said the force didn't have one of O'Brien.
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