Families SA paedophile Shannon McCoole sentenced to 35 years in jail for horrific sexual abuse of children in care
THERE were cheers in court as a judge sentenced former Families SA worker Shannon McCoole to 35 years in jail — with a minimum term of 28 years — for the vile sexual abuse of seven young children.
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- He was ‘CEO’ of global paedophile website
- McCoole weeps in court before his monstrous hypocrisy is exposed
A FORMER Families SA social worker will spend a minimum of 28 years behind bars for the vile sexual abuse of seven young children in a case which sparked a royal commission into the organisation.
Shannon Grant McCoole, 33, had pleaded guilty to a horrifying list of sex offences committed against young children in his care. They were as young as 18 months old. One had autism. Another was disabled.
McCoole was also described as the “CEO” of an international child pornography website with more than 1000 members. He would share videos and photos of him abusing his victims with fellow paedophiles around the world.
Cheers rang out across the courtroom as District Court Judge Paul Rice sentenced McCoole to 35 years in prison with a non-parole period of 28 years.
The judge told McCoole he would have to spend most of his time in prison “in protection” living with “self-inflicted infamy”.
Judge Rice said McCoole had run an “evil” international child pornography operation.
“There are those who might describe your actions as sick but I prefer evil and depraved,” he said.
“It is not easy to put into words the reach of your offending.
“It has and will continue to have serious effects on your victims, although the extent of it remains uncertain.
“You have no moral compass. You were excited and sought sexual satisfaction, not just from touching very young children but also having sexual intercourse with infants. What would incline you to do such a thing is far beyond my comprehension. It engenders feelings of outrage and revulsion among right-thinking people.”
Judge Rice called the website “highly sophisticated, elaborate, organised and controlled”.
In the website profile, McCoole listed his occupation as “professional photographic sex instructor”, his interests as “anything below 12”, and his hobby as “Sex, sex, sex, more sex, natural weight loss for chubby kids”.
Judge Rice said McCoole’s case exposed an evil beyond the scale of anything he had experienced in his entire time as a judge, crown prosecutor and defence counsel.
“One of the most remarkable submission laid on your behalf is that when you are eventually released you wish to work with young people who may have paedophilic tendencies like you did so as to help them,” he said.
“What arises from that is that there are serious reservations that I have about your insight into your offending. Knowing what I do about your offending it is fanciful in the extreme for you to contemplate that you may be permitted to work with young people ever again.”
Judge Rice said was was troubled by McCoole’s claim that it was only when taught by Families SA about the long-term consequences of child abuse that he understood the gravity of his crimes.
“It is absurd to suggest that you needed education within Families SA to gain that realisation,” he said. “These last two topics cause me to be very guarded about your long-term prospects of rehabilitation.”
RECORD SENTENCE FOR A SEX OFFENDER
McCoole’s arrest, in July last year, triggered the establishment of a royal commission into the state’s child protection system, led by former Supreme Court justice Margaret Nyland.
It is understood the 35-year sentence is the longest handed down to a sex offender in this state.
Attorney-General and Child Protection Reform Minister John Rau said he hoped the sentence would be a deterrent for other paedophiles.
“In cases like this the sentence is not only about punishment, it is also about deterrence,” Mr Rau said.
“Hopefully this will serve as a warning and we will never see a case like this again. My thoughts are with the victims and their families who experienced such unspeakable suffering.”
Police found more than 100,000 still images and 600 video files of child exploitation material at McCoole’s home.
In December last year he admitted three counts of persistent sexual exploitation of a child, three aggravated counts of indecent assault, two counts of unlawful sexual intercourse with a person under the age of 14 and one count of gross indecency with a person aged under 16.
He further pleaded guilty to seven aggravated counts of producing child pornography, one aggravated count of disseminating child pornography and one aggravated count of possessing child pornography, and Commonwealth charges of transmitting child pornography and urging others to transmit child pornography.
The offences happened between January 28, 2011, and June 11, 2014, at various locations while he was employed by Families SA.
HOLLOW CLAIMS OF REMORSE EXPOSED
In May, McCoole wept in court as he told parents of his victims of the devastation he had caused — and then read out a tearful apology.
“It’s hard to explain how I committed these crimes, even to myself,” he said.
“I hate who I am and what I have done.”
He said he took the Families SA job thinking that he could help children, but was “lonely, depressed” when he committed the crimes.
But Judge Rice immediately questioned his claims of remorse — quoting McCoole’s own words in a post written to his fellow administrators on the child pornography website.
“This has been a hard year for (suppressed website) and myself, but for all the issues you guys have managed to push through and continue to not only deliver a quality board but helped to build upon our already good reputation,” McCoole wrote.
“(This website) is something I’m very proud to be involved in and something I wish I could share with those close to me. If I could write all of you references I would.
“We do something that thousands rely on and visit almost daily and we do it with risk to our lives and while hiding from the law.
“This is a huge undertaking and something that most others would do only for reward. The simple thing is that at (suppressed website) we don’t get any rewards we just put in a lot of effort. I hope this gives you something special for Christmas whether you celebrate it or not.
“This material is not to be shared outside the admin team, some of it is my own personal material and some of it is extremely private and you will be the first people to view it. Don’t be the grinch and ruin Christmas.”
Attached to the post were two category 4 images of girls who he had abused.
ACTS OF SICKENING DEPRAVITY
When McCoole was arrested, Premier Jay Weatherill promptly ordered a Royal Commission into what he described as “unspeakable acts of evil committed against little children”.
“I don’t think it could be more disgusting and so thinking about it is difficult,” Mr Weatherill said.
“As a father and leader of the state I’m horrified, I’m sickened, I’m angry but most of all I’m determined to see that justice is done for these little children.”
Mr Weatherill later said “it may be one of the most catastrophic events in Australian history; the evil acts of one individual”.
Assistant Commissioner Paul Dickson said it had been a horrific and painstaking process for officers to identify the victims through the revolting images and videos.
“This particular case, I’ll be quite honest in saying, it’s the most horrific I’ve seen or had anything to do with,” Mr Dickson said.
“It’s a terrible crime. This whole investigation is shocking. There is nothing about it that isn’t horrific for the victims, there’s nothing about it that’s not horrific for the parents and my people who have got the terrible job of viewing hundreds of thousands of images of child exploitation.”
McCoole has agreed to give evidence at the Royal Commission when it begins later this year.
The Royal Commission will probe 10 key areas that are crucial to ensuring the protection of vulnerable children.
Five of the terms of reference relate directly to failings within Families SA that have been identified in a series of reports in The Advertiser about McCoole’s crimes.