Ex Scouts leader Darren Vuolanne guilty of historic underage sex crimes

A former Scouts leader and interstate truckie has been found guilty of multiple historical sex crimes, including the repeated rape of a teenage girl. WARNING: Graphic content.

A jury found Darren Vuolanne guilty of four charges in Wollongong District Court on Monday.

A Scouts leader-turned-child sex predator has been found guilty of a string of sex crimes dating back more than two decades following a week-long trial in Wollongong District Court.

The jury deliberated for eight hours and 30 minutes before on Monday finding Darren Vuolanne, 51, guilty of 11 charges regarding sexual offending between 1996 and 2001.

The Windang man had pleaded not guilty to four counts of sexual intercourse with a person between 10 and 16, three counts of aggravated indecent assault of a victim under the age of 16, sexual intercourse with a person between the ages of 10 and 16, indecent assault of a victim under the age of 10 and aggravated indecent assault of a victim under the age of 16.

The Crown’s position during the trial was Vuolanne “had a sexual interest in young girls” while his legal team’s stance was no sexual misconduct took place whatsoever.

The trial heard from Vuolanne’s four victims who were aged between eight and 15 during the period of offending.

One of the victims was raped between 15 and 20 times by Vuolanne with the court hearing he had “control” over her and “touched me whenever he felt like it”.

The court heard a discreet audio recording of the woman confronting Vuolanne about 20 years on from the offending where she told him: “You took my virginity”.

Windang man Darren Vuolanne will be sentenced in July. Picture: Facebook

Vuolanne could be heard in the recording apologising and saying “If I could go back 20 years I would take it all back”.

The offending also included kissing the minors on the lips, putting his hand down their underpants and fondling their nipples.

Vuolanne had been associated with Scouts before becoming a truck driver, a career which saw him based in Alice Springs in 2019.

Vuolanne had been in custody on remand leading up to and during the trial due to being unable to fulfil his bail requirements.

However, upon the guilty verdict Judge Megan Latham revoked his bail.

On Monday the court heard Vuolanne’s legal team needed five to six weeks to prepare a report.

Judge Latham will sentence Vuolanne in July.