John Wyn Williams from Exchange Chambers successfully prosecutes two men who raped a young boy.
David Bradbury, 55, and William Gamble, 65, from St Helens, were arrested on October 26 last year.
Their crimes were uncovered when an indecent image of a different child was uploaded to Facebook.
Police found 14 category-A images, four category B images and three category C images, on devices at the men’s home.
Bradbury and Gamble were each jailed for 16 years, with an extended one year on licence, after they both admitted four counts of rape, two sexual assaults and two assaults by penetration, plus the taking of indecent videos associated to each act.
Sentencing the pair at Liverpool Crown Court, Judge Rachel Smith said: “You embarked on a course of grooming and sexually abusive behaviour.
“You acted as a team.
“You persisted with it in the face of involvement of the police.”
John Wyn Williams, prosecuting, said police “seized a notebook which contained a list of about 500 names”.
They are believed to be Facebook contacts, with jurors told “many are foreign names”.
The court heard in a victim impact statement the child’s father said: “Every single day I worry about the time [his son] will be old enough to fully realise what happened to him. I dread this and know it will be a terrible day.”
The court heard Gamble had no relevant previous convictions and that Bradbury has a conviction for exposure in 1995.
Local press coverage:
https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/couple-raped-little-boy-offered-20087505