Victims confront Families SA paedophile Shannon McCoole in sentencing submissions
A CHILD who repeatedly hides under a chair, a mother who can’t sleep at night ... victims of Families SA paedophile Shannon McCoole have confronted him face to face with the impact of his despicable crimes.
- How the judge exposed this evil predator’s gross hypocrisy
- Royal Commission to look at failings of Families SA
A CHILD who repeatedly hides under a chair, a mother who can’t sleep at night and an aunt who says her family’s nightmare is only just beginning — victims of Families SA paedophile Shannon McCoole have today confronted him with the ongoing torment caused by his despicable crimes.
Victim impact statements from relatives of seven children sexually abused and filmed by McCoole while they were in state care — including an autistic child and a disabled child — have been read to the judge who will sentence McCoole for his monstrous crimes.
McCoole, 32, has admitted committing multiple sex offences against at least seven children while he was acting as their carer.
One of his victims was estimated to be aged just 18 months old.
A grandmother of one of the victims, a boy who was three at the time, said McCoole’s actions had destroyed her family.
“No mother wants to observe the extreme grief my son-in-law and daughter have had to suffer,” she said.
“Shannon McCoole, I say to you that the pain you have inflicted on others for your sexual gratification will never fade.”
One mother cried and had to leave court as her victim impact statement was read.
“I have problems sleeping when I think about how I went wrong and let my daughter down as a parent and could not protect her,” she wrote.
The aunt and uncle of an abused boy said in their statement: “It’s frustrating. He was removed from a negative environment (his parents’ care) to where he was supposed to be safe but suffered the worst possible abuse imaginable.”
The couple said they were forced to obtain character references and have their house thoroughly inspected to get custody of their nephew — a family member — yet McCoole was given the freedom to abuse multiple children with inadequate checks.
They said they were disgusted to hear the man who was supposed to protect the vulnerable now gets protected custody.
The father of a disabled boy echoed their thoughts, saying his family’s nightmare continued while McCoole got “four walls, three meals” a day.
Others detailed the victims’ horrific and longstanding behavioural problems.
One victim hides under a chair when he feels stressed or threatened and refuses to come out.
Prosecutor Ian Press, SC, said no submission by him could better encapsulate McCoole’s betrayal of vulnerable children than the heartbreaking statements from the victims’ families.
McCoole wept as his listened to some of the statements. It was the first time he has shown any emotion during his court appearances.
But Judge Paul Rice questioned the sincerity of his remorse, reading out a post McCoole sent to 1000 fellow paedophiles saying how “proud” he was of their online child pornography exchange.
McCoole also pleaded guilty today to Commonwealth charges of transmitting child pornography and urging others to transmit child pornography.
The court heard that he was the administrator of a child pornography site which had more than 1000 members.
Police have previously alleged they found more than 100,000 still images and 600 video files of child exploitation material at McCoole’s home.
Judge Rice will sentence McCoole at a later date.
The raid, and McCoole’s subsequent arrest, triggered the establishment of a royal commission into the state’s child protection system, led by former Supreme Court justice Margaret Nyland.
The offences happened between January 28, 2011, and June 11, 2014 at various locations and his arrest had led to significant political fallout including the resignation of deputy chief executive David Waterford.
The charges
■ 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
■ One count of gross indecency of a person aged under 16
■ Seven aggravated counts of producing child pornography
■ One aggravated count of disseminating child pornography
■ One aggravated count of possessing child pornography
■ Commonwealth charges of transmitting child pornography and urging others to transmit child pornography