Neale Valentine: Ex-Scout Leader who sexually abused seven boys jailed

A former Scout Leader who sexually abused seven boys, sexually assaulting some after he lured them to complete chores for pocket money at his home, has been jailed.

An ex Scout Leader who sexually abused seven boys some of whom he assaulted after he lured them to complete chores for pocket money at his home has been jailed.

Neale Valentine, 52, pleaded guilty to 12 child sex abuse charges including having sexual intercourse and indecently assaulting boys as young as 12 when he was a Scout Leader at Castlecrag in the mid-1980s and early 1990s.

The shocking details of the assaults which occurred over the course of eight years were relayed at Downing Centre District Court on Friday.

Neale Valentine.

The court heard Valentine had crept near some of the victims while they slept at scout trips and put his hands down their boxer shorts and even forced one to give him oral sex.

Valentine would also lure some of the boys to his St Ives home to perform house chores in exchange for pocket money before insisting them to sleepover where he would assault them.

Justice Karen Robinson said offences towards one teenage victim was the “most serious” because he was sexually assaulted on at least two occasions in the offender’s home.

“The offending occurred when the victim was 14 and the offender was 25 …. the offending occurs on the background of continuous abuse and cannot be seen as isolated incidents,” she told the court.

Neale Valentine

The court heard, Valentine had bought the teenager Nike shoes and said he could repay him by doing chores.

One night, he forced the teenager to watch pornography after he completed his work before he fell asleep and woke to Valentine performing oral sex on him.

The Scout Leader then asked the boy to return the favour to which he refused, before he forcibly inserted his penis into the victim’s anus.

A NSW Police investigation first commenced in late 2018 after one of the victims first reported Valentine to police which culminated in his arrest at Sydney Airport last March.

A report by a clinical psychologist was also tendered in court that stated he had grown up in Grafton before moving to Frenchs Forest with his mum after his parents separated.

Neale Valentine was sentenced at Downing Centre District Court

He was later bullied as a student at North Sydney Boys High School when others would question him on his sexuality because he had gay friends.

The psychologist also said he was at a low to moderate risk of reoffending and had no pedophilic tendencies.

The crown argued that good character and lack of previous convictions should not be mitigating factors which Judge Robinson accepted.

“While I accept the offender had no prior convictions by the time his offending commenced, his good character was thereafter eroded by his sexual behaviour beyond the first victim,” Judge Robinson said.

“Further …. leadership within a scout’s movement assisted the offender in the commission of the offences given the trust placed in him by his victims and more importantly their families …”

Valentine was sentenced to a seven-and-a-half years in jail with a non-parole period of five years.

He is eligible for parole on 19 January 2026.