Pedophile Coffs Harbour school bus driver Colin Sambrook abused three boys

An ex-Mid-North Coast school bus driver sexually abused three boys over nearly two decades with the youngest victim aged just eight. The predator will be behind bars until he is a nonagenarian.

Pedophile Colin Sambrook was a bus driver for Beaumount’s in the Mid-North Coast.

A former Mid-North Coast school bus driver sexually abused three boys over the span of nearly two decades with the youngest victim a mere eight years of age.

Colin Sambrook, 78, was sentenced by Judge Michael McHugh in Coffs Harbour District Court last week to up to 20 years behind bars for offending between 1989 and 2006.

Sambrook pleaded guilty to dozens of charges including multiples counts of sexual assault and sexual intercourse with minors as well as committing acts of indecency on minors.

Documents tendered in court state the offences occurred in Coffs Harbour with Sambrook’s youngest victim being an eight-year-old boy who would be driven home from school on a Beaumont’s bus driven by the pedophile.

The documents state the boy was alone on the bus when Sambrook said he “had to stop for 20 or 30 minutes before continuing the route”. During this time, as well as at many other times, the boy was sexually abused.

Colin Sambrook was first charged in 2022.

Sambrook told the boy the abuse was a “bonding thing between males and should stay between them”.

The documents state Sambrook encouraged the boy to skip school and go to the offender’s home where he was abused.

The other two child victims were also groomed by Sambrook who would sexually abuse them after exposing them to alcohol, cannabis and pornography.

One of the victims, who was abused until he was 15, was told by Sambrook “it’s okay to do this but don’t tell anyone”.

Sambrook had one victim introduce him to another boy, who he then preyed on.

Colin Sambrook was sentenced in Coffs Harbour District Court.

This became a “common thing” and Sambrook would “do it every chance he got”, the victim states in the court documents.

Documents state the two boys did not know of each other’s plight at one stage.

Judge McHugh sentenced Sambrook to a maximum of 20 years in jail with the term expiring in February, 2044. The sentence was backdated to when Sambrook went into custody.

Sambrook received a non-parole period of 13 years, meaning he could be released as soon as 2036, by which point he will be at least 90.