Gamer, 33, who used his PlayStation and Xbox to groom a five-year-old boy he went on to rape up to 100 times is jailed for 21 years

• Anwar Ali, 33, invited the boy to play computer games with him in his bedroom  
• He was raped up to 100 times between 2003 and 2007 and now has severe OCD
• Ali has been jailed for 21 years and after his release will be on licence until 2043

Anwar Ali invited the boy to play computer games with him on his Xbox and Playstation

A gaming fan has been jailed for 21 years after he used his PlayStation and Xbox to groom a five-year-old boy he went on to rape up to 100 times.

Anwar Ali, 33, abused the victim after inviting him into his bedroom to play computer games with him.

The victim's ordeal began in 2003 after he moved into the same neighbourhood as Ali and only ended in 2007 when he moved away.

The victim went to police last year after experiencing sleepless nights and suffering from OCD, which caused him to scrub his skin so hard when washing it was 'red raw'.

Officers went to Ali's home in Hyde, Greater Manchester and found indecent images of children on his computer.

At Manchester Crown Court, he was found guilty of five counts of rape of a child aged under 12, four counts of sexual assault by penetration of a child under the age of 12 and two counts of accessing indecent images of children. 

The court heard Ali, met the victim when he was 18, after he moved into his neighbourhood.

David Bentley prosecuting said: 'The defendant's bedroom had a PlayStation and Xbox and the complainant would be invited into the bedroom with the defendant to play video games. But during 2003, when the complainant was only five years old, he approached him from behind and kissing him. It then progressed further over the next four years.'

The court heard on one occasion the boy's mother went upstairs to Ali's bedroom and knocked on the door to check if her son was okay unaware he was being abused inside.

Anwar Ali groomed the boy by inviting him to play computer games with him in his bedroom

Ali denied wrongdoing at a trial earlier this year.

In a statement the victim said: 'I felt like I could trust Anwar but he stole my childhood. 'I have developed OCD and wash myself to the point that my skin is red raw. I have found it difficult to cope with normal experiences and I don't like it when people touch me. The trial has brought everything back for me.'

Sentencing Judge Tina Landale told Ali: 'This was a campaign of sexual abuse which took place in your bedroom. You enticed him into your bedroom with the promise of playing video games and I described it as a campaign because that there were more than 100 incidents. He says it was sometime more than once a week.

'You kept your family in the dark with your sexual interest in young boys and you continued to rape and sexually abuse him. The impact of your abuse on him has had long lasting consequences. He says that you have stolen his childhood and he doesn't like it when people touch him.

'As soon as he was an adult, he was unable to sleep because of the abuse he received, and he told the authorities. You expressed grooming behaviour because you enticed him into your bedroom with video games. On occasion his mother was stood on the other side of the door asking him if everything was alright, unaware you were abusing him.

'You now walk with a stick and I am told you have erectile dysfunction - but that doesn't stop you from being sexually titillated from child pornography online. You were still being aroused by looking at children being abused online.

'You are still sexually interested in children and I know this because you were arrested in March 2017 for having indecent images of children.'

Ali will be on licence until 2043 after his release from jail and will remain on the sex offenders register for life. 

His family wailed from the public gallery and said: 'He doesn't deserve this' as he was led away.

Det Con Louise Isherwood from Greater Manchester Police's Child Protection Unit said after the case: 'Ali is a sexual predator who not only used a young boy's interest in computer games to abuse him over a prolonged period, but had the audacity to plead innocence from the point of police interview and right throughout the trial, forcing the victim to relive this horrific ordeal.

'But, thanks to the courage of his victim - who did not want to tell his friends and family about this abuse and coped with it on his own before receiving specialist support from officers - we have today's sentence, which sends out a clear message that no matter when these types of crime happen, they will be taken very seriously.'