A FORMER teacher and personal trainer has admitted sexually assaulting nine boys over 35 years, having promised some that the abuse would help with their fitness. The 63-year-old Southern Tasmanian man’s child sex offences were committed between 1978 and 2013. All of the boys were aged between 12 and 15 when he molested them. His earliest crime took place in the late 1970s when he taught at a Hobart high school. It was there that he persistently assaulted one boy who was aged between 12 and 13. The man cannot be named, to protect the identity of the victims. In a victim impact statement, the survivor said their unequal and inappropriate relationship made his schooling a misery. ‘‘I began to think I was vile ... I spent 37 years thinking that somehow the problem was mine,’’ he said. The perpetrator later abused two young brothers in the early 1990s, including on an extracurricular camp. On that occasion, he locked one boy inside a dorm room, telling him he was being punished when the boy begged him to stop. Later he established a private gym and invited boys from the local football club to train with him. On numerous occasions he inspected the boys’ genitals and took naked photographs of them, insisting it was to track their physical development. He gave the boys massages that concentrated on their genitals and buttocks, which often escalated to inappropriate acts. He sexually assaulted one boy at least 34 times over more than a year. The court heard that the boy did not think he could tell anyone what was happening, and self-medicated with cannabis to forget the abuse. In a victim impact statement, the boy said the repeated attacks left him with recurring nightmares, and he had tried to take his own life three times. ‘‘I don’t want to go to bed at night because I lie there thinking about what happened,’’ he said. The court heard he had anger problems and had lost all focus in sport and study. ‘‘I feel that it has ruined my future,’’ he said. Crown prosecutor Linda Mason told the court that the man deliberately groomed his victims, hounding some with persistent messages on Facebook. The online contact continued even after he had abused the boys, sending one more than 60 messages. Ms Mason said the perpetrator had gained the trust of the boys’ families and betrayed it in the worst possible way. The court heard that he plied some boys with alcohol and showed others graphic pornography. Defence lawyer Tamara Jago, SC, said her client accepted full responsibility and moral culpability for his crimes. Ms Jago said he had experienced an isolated incident of sexual assault as an 11-year-old boy, and now recognised he needed professional help. She asked the judge to consider his guilty pleas, saying they had spared his victims a difficult and arduous trial. He pleaded guilty to two counts of maintaining a sexual relationship with a young person, eight counts of indecent assault, and producing and possessing child exploitation material. The man will remain in custody until he is sentenced on October 8.
A FORMER teacher and personal trainer has admitted sexually assaulting nine boys over 35 years, having promised some that the abuse would help with their fitness.
The 63-year-old Southern Tasmanian man’s child sex offences were committed between 1978 and 2013.
All of the boys were aged between 12 and 15 when he molested them.
His earliest crime took place in the late 1970s when he taught at a Hobart high school. It was there that he persistently assaulted one boy who was aged between 12 and 13.
The man cannot be named, to protect the identity of the victims.
In a victim impact statement, the survivor said their unequal and inappropriate relationship made his schooling a misery.
‘‘I began to think I was vile ... I spent 37 years thinking that somehow the problem was mine,’’ he said.
The perpetrator later abused two young brothers in the early 1990s, including on an extracurricular camp.
On that occasion, he locked one boy inside a dorm room, telling him he was being punished when the boy begged him to stop.
Later he established a private gym and invited boys from the local football club to train with him.
On numerous occasions he inspected the boys’ genitals and took naked photographs of them, insisting it was to track their physical development.
He gave the boys massages that concentrated on their genitals and buttocks, which often escalated to inappropriate acts.
He sexually assaulted one boy at least 34 times over more than a year.
The court heard that the boy did not think he could tell anyone what was happening, and self-medicated with cannabis to forget the abuse.
In a victim impact statement, the boy said the repeated attacks left him with recurring nightmares, and he had tried to take his own life three times.
‘‘I don’t want to go to bed at night because I lie there thinking about what happened,’’ he said.
The court heard he had anger problems and had lost all focus in sport and study.
‘‘I feel that it has ruined my future,’’ he said.
Crown prosecutor Linda Mason told the court that the man deliberately groomed his victims, hounding some with persistent messages on Facebook.
The online contact continued even after he had abused the boys, sending one more than 60 messages.
Ms Mason said the perpetrator had gained the trust of the boys’ families and betrayed it in the worst possible way.
The court heard that he plied some boys with alcohol and showed others graphic pornography.
Defence lawyer Tamara Jago, SC, said her client accepted full responsibility and moral culpability for his crimes.
Ms Jago said he had experienced an isolated incident of sexual assault as an 11-year-old boy, and now recognised he needed professional help.
She asked the judge to consider his guilty pleas, saying they had spared his victims a difficult and arduous trial.
He pleaded guilty to two counts of maintaining a sexual relationship with a young person, eight counts of indecent assault, and producing and possessing child exploitation material.
The man will remain in custody until he is sentenced on October 8.
