Bega Cheese CEO Maurice Van Ryn jailed for 13 years for child sex offences

THE former CEO of Bega Cheese will serve at least seven years behind bars for more than a decade of child sexual offences.

Maurice Van Ryn

THE former CEO of Bega Cheese will serve at least seven years behind bars for more than a decade of child sexual offences.

Maurice Van Ryn pleaded guilty to 15 child sex offences carried out on nine victims between 2003 and 2014 and has this evening been sentenced to a total term of 13 years.

"It is in the interests of the community that he be on a long period of parole," Judge Clive Jeffreys said of the sentence, saying he would be aided by his successful treatment on anti-libido treatment.

The maximum penalty is 25 years.

The families inside the Sydney District Court shook their heads, and some began to cry, as Judge Jeffreys said he "would not take (the aggravating feature of) grooming into account, adversely", with more visible anger inside the courtroom as he said he believed Van Ryn had expressed "deep contrition" for his crimes.

The fact Van Ryn suffered from "high functioning ADHD" would be taken into account when sentencing, the court heard.

Judge Jeffreys began his sentencing remarks 90 minutes after they due to start, with no explanation for the delay given to the courtroom that was packed with the loved ones of the young people Van Ryn, 59, indecently and sexually assaulted.

The families of Van Ryn's victims appeared incredulous as Judge Jeffreys made a point of saying the sentence imposed would be deducted by one day to cover for the 24 hours he spent in custody after his arrest in September 2014.

The court heard Van Ryn later committed further offences on bail once released, and he was takenback into custody in December after the DPP successfully applied to revoke his bail.

The sentence was backdated to begin from a day earlier than that revoking of bail, Judge Jeffreys said.

A spokesperson for victims’ families talks to media at the sentence for Maurice Van Ryn. Picture: Jeremy Piper

Maurice Van Ryn enters court.

Maurice Van Ryn at an awards ceremony.

A discount of 25 per cent was also given due to guilty pleas "entered at the earliest opportunity", the court heard.

Details of Van Ryn's crimes were detailed in the sentencing, including that he had propositioned one young victim in a pool and said "do you want to be my special friend?" before fondling his genitals.

In another incident with a teenage boy Van Ryn began watching porn on his laptop and masturbating, and then tried to have anal sex with him, causing the boy to begin bleeding and cry out in pain.

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The fact Van Ryn was on bail when he committed an offence would not be taken into account as an "aggravating factor" when it came to sentencing on particular charges, Judge Jeffreys said.

This was because that charge was dealt with under a form one, which means Van Ryn acknowledged it happened but didn't enter a plea to it and Judge Jeffreys wanted to avoid "double counting" when calculating the sentence. He noted Van Ryn had "an extremely good work history" and added that Bega Cheese "under his guidance and management became very successful." "I am satisfied offender, in my view, has shown deep contrition," he said. "He has voluntarily taken positive steps by involving himself with anti-libido treatment.

"He has been progressing extremely well in relation to anti libido treatment and has reasonable prospects of not ever offending while he is on this treatment.

"I need to take this into account."

Van Ryn gave evidence at a sentencing hearing in February, saying he regretted the offences and considered them "a few minutes of stupidity".

He will be eligible for release on parole in December 2021.