John William Alcorn, 84, locked up for historical sexual abuse of boys while connected to Scouts, churches on Northern Rivers

A judge told a court it was it was “extraordinary” a child sex predator connected to Scouts and Northern Rivers churches “avoided detection” for so long. Eventually, police did come knocking.

Alcorn’s offending was linked to the Lismore Presbyterian Church on Keen Street.

A serial child sex offender who got away with it for decades has been jailed for what will likely be the rest of his life, with a judge saying it was “extraordinary” he “avoided detection” for so long.

John William Alcorn, 84, faced Coffs Harbour District Court on Friday and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

He pleaded guilty to a string of 29 child sexual offences against nine young boys in the Lismore and Ballina areas between 1979 and 2003.

Judge Jennifer English described Alcorn’s “disgraceful” offending, abusing positions of trust to opportunistically and chronically abuse primary school aged boys – one as young as six years old.

The court heard Alcorn preyed upon boys he supervised while an assistant master at the Lismore St Andrews Scouts Group and as an assistant at St Paul’s Presbyterian Church Boys Brigade.

John William Alcorn was jailed for 15 years on September 22.

Alcorn also targeted children of his friends in their homes, and members of the Anglican and Presbyterian churches, the court heard.

He preyed upon neighbourhood boys in his driveway in broad daylight, the court heard.

Judge Jennifer English said Alcorn had a “complete lack of insight” into the impact his abuse had on his victims, and there was no room for mercy.

The court heard Alcorn had told Community Corrections during a sentence assessment report the vulnerable victims were “lining up to offer themselves to him”.

“He admitted to ‘fiddling’ his victims,” Judge English said.

“It was his view the victims had ‘consented’ and it was done ‘for a lark’.

“Nothing could be further from the truth.”

The court heard his victims’ lives had been “torn apart”.

They have struggled with lifelong trauma and some have been plagued by thoughts of taking their own lives.

The victims have struggled with the trauma of Alcorn’s remorseless offending.

The court heard Alcorn lived most of his life in Lismore and his criminal history consisted “exclusively” of “similar offences” that predated the offending before the court.

Judge English said it was “extraordinary” nothing was initially done by police after multiple reports of Alcorn’s offending over many decades.

Judge English said Alcorn “avoided detection” for years until police “eventually” investigated crimes many years later.

She told the court Alcorn presented an “above average” risk of committing further sexual offences against children if he was let out into the community.

Judge English convicted Alcorn and sentenced him to 15 years in prison with a non-parole period of 10 years, backdated to his arrest in September 2021.

Alcorn will be eligible for release on parole on September 28, 2031.

Judge English said: “He will likely die in custody.”

Originally published as John William Alcorn, 84, locked up for historical sexual abuse of boys while connected to Scouts, churches on Northern Rivers