What the victims said about Families SA predator Shannon McCoole

IT’S heartbreaking reading. The victims of Families SA predator Shannon McCoole have revealed how his monstrous betrayal affected the small children he cruelly abused.

• Shannon McCoole jailed for 35 years and a minimum term of 28 years
• Inside story: How a quiet teen morphed into a monster
• McCoole weeps in court before his monstrous hypocrisy is exposed
• He was ‘CEO’ of global paedophile website

VICTIMS of Families SA paedophile Shannon McCoole’s have told how the scars of his crimes will be felt across generations as court documents reveal the full extent of his monstrous acts.

Between January 2011 to March 2013, McCoole — who his own lawyer has described as one of the state’s worst-ever paedophiles — horrifically abused seven young children including a disabled child, an autistic child and a toddler estimated to be aged just 18 months.

McCoole has been jailed for 35 years, with a non-parole period of 28 years.

Court documents released to The Advertiser can now reveal for the first time that McCoole, 33, created a specific file on his computer of himself sexually abusing his victims.

Police investigators found 593 images and 57 videos in the file — some of which he had posted online in his role as “CEO” of an international child pornography website.

A further 2597 images and 62 videos of other children being abused were found, the clear majority of which were children under 14.

During his record of interview, McCoole told investigators his “age preference” was 5 to 10 years.

Chat logs posted to the website between August 2010 and February 2013 showed how sick and depraved McCoole had become.

According to the documents, the blogs “boasted about his sexual offending against young children, talked about changes in opportunities to offend and gave advice in grooming and the benefits of sexual offending against younger children.”

The court had earlier heard about a dozen victim impact statements — from victims’ mothers, fathers, grandparents, carers, and the Victims of Crime Commissioner — about the ongoing suffering caused by McCoole’s deviant offending.

A grandmother of one of the victims, a boy who was three at the time, said McCoole’s actions had destroyed her family.

“Shannon McCoole, I say to you that the pain you have inflicted on others for your sexual gratification will never fade,” she said.

One mother had cried and left 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.”

Another victim hides under a chair when he feels stressed or threatened and refuses to come out.

During sentencing submissions in May, Prosecutor Ian Press, SC, said no words from him could better encapsulate McCoole’s betrayal of vulnerable children than the heartbreaking statements from the victims’ families.

“Mr McCoole’s behaviour has unfortunately to some extent redefined, in this state at least, the extent to which one person is willing to put their own sexual gratification before the interests of the children in their care,” he said.

“The victim impact statements all too powerfully show why his acts have the potential to resonate throughout the community for years to come.

“But, in particular, in my submission, one of the most important and significant aspects of this is that this man’s actions, this man’s depravity, has irrevocably changed not only the lives but the memories for all of the families that are responsible for raising and caring for these children.

“How it is going to manifest itself in years to come is simply unknown.”

Shannon McCoole has been jailed for 35 years with a non-parole period of 28 years.

WHAT THE VICTIMS SAID

Prosecutor Ian Press

“This man’s depravity, has irrevocably changed not only the lives but the memories for all of the families that are responsible for raising and caring for these children. How it is going to manifest itself in years to come is simply unknown.”

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Grandmother of twins abused by McCoole:

My granddaughter sleeps in a strange way, she is really stiff and has the doona pulled up really tightly around her every night. Since I found out about this I never go in and touch her when she calls my name during the night. I just turn on the light and call her name. I don’t want to touch her any more when she is asleep in case it scares her.”

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Grandmother of boy, then 3, who was one of the first to be abused by McCoole:

“At the time he was being assaulted (he) was unable to speak or fend for himself in any way. He was a highly vulnerable child. (He) is now back with his loving family where he belongs, however, the depraved acts of McCoole have compounded our grief almost unspeakably. His criminal acts tore apart our everyday reality. It broke our hearts. It does not end.”

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Father of disabled boy:

“To hear what happened to our disabled son in the time that he was in care with his brother and sister in the horror house is like a dream. You don’t think it is real but it is and everyday we have to look at our son and feel his pain even though he went through it, not us.”

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Grandmother of that disabled boy:

“All I pray for now is to see justice for my grandson and all the other abused and traumatised children and their families and maybe we can all rest a little easier knowing that one more predator is removed from society where he can no longer prey on innocent children and scar them for life.”

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Aunt and uncle of a then 18-month old boy, who is now in their care after he was abused by McCoole:

“The police have told us that McCoole is in a part of the jail where he is protected from other prisoners for his own safety. That is one of the things that makes us the angriest. Why does the person who was supposed to protect and care for small vulnerable children who betrayed and hurt them in the worst possible ways now get protection?”

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Mother of young girl abused by McCoole:

“I have problems sleeping, I lay awake at night crying and thinking where I went wrong and how I let my daughter down as a parent and could not protect her from harm.”

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Social impact statement on behalf of Families SA workers:

“Mr McCoole’s actions in persistently sexually exploiting the children have impacted heavily on staff’s confidence in each other in responding to children in their care. While staff continue to be supportive of children and young people they now report feeling a sense of concern that the important tasks, such as comforting a child, will be misinterpreted as potentially abusive due to Mr McCoole’s behaviour.”