Transgender man reveals how he was sexually abused at the age of 8 by a teenage male babysitter he looked up to when he was confused about his gender
- Transgender teenager Liam, 20, said he was abused at home at the age of eight
- Babysitter Scott Webb, then 16, pinned him down on a bed and kissed him
- Attacker, from Cumbria, was jailed for eight years and three months for crime
A transgender teenager who was pinned onto his bed and sexually abused at the age of eight by the son of his mother’s best friend, has vowed never to forgive his attacker and said it nearly tore their family apart.
Liam, 20, revealed how Scott Webb, then 16, carried out the sexual assault while babysitting at his home in Cumbria and told him to stop being such a ‘wimp’ when he cried.
Waiving his right to anonymity to speak out about the abuse Liam, who is in the process of transitioning to a male, said that he’d looked up older men like Scott while grappling with his own identity at the time.
‘I really looked up to Scott – as a little girl I was confused about my own gender and to me, he was a grown-up I could trust and rely on,’ he recalled.
Webb, 28, was jailed for eight years and three months at Burnley Crown Court in April after admitting sexual offences.
He was also handed a 19-month jail sentence after pleading guilty to using coercive and controlling behaviour against his ex-partner and the mother of his child.
Liam, 20, pictured during his childhood, has spoken out about the abuse he suffered from a babysitter while eight years old
Attacker Scott Webb, then 16, pinned Liam onto a bed and sexually abused him. He was jailed for eight years and three months at Burnley Crown Court after admitting sexual offences
‘He let me down and abused me in the worst way possible and I will never forgive him,’ he said.
‘The abuse almost destroyed my whole family – my mum fell to pieces.’
Speaking about the abuse Liam said that his friend Scott, who used to play football with him and go on the X-box, and sometimes used to hug and kiss him.
‘He hugged me, which didn’t seem too strange, but then he began kissing me on the lips and putting his hands inside my clothes,’ he said.
‘He pinned me down on the bed and assaulted me and when I started to cry, he told me not to be such a wimp.
‘Afterwards, he told me he would kill me if I told anyone. I hated it but I was terrified of him.’
Liam and mother Bekka pictured outside court. Liam told a family member about the abuse he had suffered in April 2007
Talking about the abuse suffered, Liam. pictured outside Burnley Crown Court, said Webb also kissed and hugged him, and stuck his hands down his clothes. When Liam cried he was told not to be a ‘wimp’
Liam opened up about the abuse in April 2007, confiding in a family member.
Mother Bekka reported it to the police but Liam felt unable to give a full interview at the time. Webb was let off with just a verbal warning, and the family was told the case would be reopened if there were any future complaints.
The case resurfaced in 2015 when a second complaint, separate to Liam’s, was made against Webb.
Liam was re-interviewed and Webb was charged with the sexual assault of two children under the age of ten, over a period of four months.
Heartbroken Bekka blames herself for introducing Webb to the family.
‘My youngest daughter died before the abuse began and I was lost in grief when Scott Webb came into our lives’, she said.
‘But I blame myself for not realising what was going on in my own home.
‘Liam looked up to him because, at the time, he was a little girl who identified with boys and looked up to blokes. Scott Webb abused his trust in the worst way possible.’
Webb is the son of his mother’s friend Wendy, and is pictured here on Instagram
Liam (left) pictured with his family during his childhood in Cumbria, where he grew up
The family’s ordeal began in 2005 when Bekka’s daughter Kieana, two, died in her sleep the day before her second birthday in November 2005.
Tests could find no obvious cause of death and Bekka was told she had died from SUDC, sudden unexplained death in children.
‘I was deeply traumatised. I had two other children to look after but I struggled to cope’, she said.
In the months afterwards, Bekka moved to a new house close to her old friend, Wendy Webb.
Bekka says: ‘Wendy would visit nearly every day, with her son, Scott, who was 16.
‘Scott was friendly and good with my kids. He was trying to earn money and he would do odd jobs and babysit for neighbours.
‘When he offered to babysit for me, I jumped at the chance. It was only for an hour or so, he’d look after the kids whilst I went shopping or pick them up from school.
‘Months later, I left him baby-sitting just once when I went for a night out.’
Liam’s mother pictured with her husband Jayson inside a church. Bekka decided that she and the children should move again after the abuse because her son struggled with anger and behavioural issues
Liam, pictured in his childhood, used to play football with Webb and looked up to him
After Liam was abused, Bekka decided to move because her son struggled with anger and behavioural issues.
‘We moved house away from Scott Webb but the ordeal ripped our family apart. I was still grieving for my daughter. It was a really bad patch for us’, she said.
In 2013, when Liam was 14, Bekka got her life back on track. She went to university and stability returned.
In 2016 Liam announced that .
Bekka says: ‘When she was 17, she announced that she wanted to legally become a boy. To me, it was not a huge shock. I’d had three daughters but she was always more than just a tomboy, she had male friends, and she played football and rugby.
‘She said she’d known ever since she was a little girl, but had carried it round, secretly.
‘I was very proud of her honesty.’
After the family sat through a two-hour hearing before Webb was jailed, Bekka said she felt ‘so proud’ of her son for speaking out
Liam has said he will use the compensation money to help fund his transition operation that is being paid for by the NHS
After the family sat through a two-hour hearing before Webb was jailed, Bekka said she felt ‘so proud’ of her son for speaking out and seeing this through.
‘On top of this, he’s coped with transitioning into the young man he always dreamed of being.
‘His strength is inspiring and I hope he can use this same courage to help him through his next challenge to become legally male.’
Speaking about his experience going through the courts, Liam said: ‘I feel proud that I have been able to stand up to him and see justice done. I will draw on this strength during my next challenge – my journey to becoming a man and I want other survivors of sexual abuse to understand that it is always the right thing to speak out.’
Liam is living as a man and hopes his transition will begin in the next 10 months.
He has said that he will use compensation money he receives to help pay for his NHS-funded transition operation.
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