An Iraq war veteran from Bolton, found guilty of raping a six-year-old girl, was jailed for 11 years at Bolton Crown Court yesterday.
Little Lever’s Garry Reader, 31, manipulated his child victim into keeping silent about the horrific incident, which occurred sometime between May 2012 and May 2013.
His atrocious crime only emerged in August 2013 when the victim confided in her friend and was encouraged to speak to her mother.
Detective Constable Kirsty Kaye said: “This is an appalling case, where the victim was not old enough to even comprehend the atrocity she was being subjected to.
“This sentence goes some way to demonstrating that we will go to any length possible to punish those who target the innocent for their own gratification.”
The court heard how Reader was left alone with the victim and her siblings at a Bolton address.
He was lying in a bed upstairs when he called the victim into the room and she climbed into bed with him.
After asking whether her brother was downstairs he told her, ‘Shhh, be quiet’, before raping her.
Following the incident, he told the victim: “Don’t tell anyone, someone could be really mad at me and I could go to prison.”
Detective Constable Kaye added: “Reader has used that classic tool of abusers and exploiters, fear, guilt-tripping the victim into keeping quiet.
“The victim and her family are being supported by specially trained officers, who we hope will assist them to come to terms with what has happened.”
Reader was a witness in the 2003 inquiry into the death of Iraqi hotel worker Baha Mousa in British army custody in Basra.
