Convicted paedophile Hugh Lean molested player in southeast junior football club
A convicted paedophile used a twisted lie to forge a decade-long association with a junior football club in Melbourne’s southeast, which allowed the predator to molest a young player.
South East
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A convicted paedophile used a fake name and concocted a lie about having a dead son in order to infiltrate a southeast junior football club for almost a decade.
Hugh Lean, 66, was sentenced in the County Court on October 28 to a minimum two years and six months after pleading guilty to an indecent act with a child under 16.
Lean sponsored a southeast junior football team in 2007 and 2008, and remained associated with the club until 2016.
The County Court heard Lean told people at the club his name was Aaron Smith and he wanted to be involved because his son had played football before dying in a car accident.
But it was all a lie, the court heard.
Lean never had any children and he was a registered sex offender after being convicted and jailed in 2002 for rape and an indecent act with a child under 16.
In 2008 he was convicted of soliciting a 14-year-old for sex.
During his association with the football club, Lean bought the players training jumpers and footballs, paid for pizza and pie nights, watched junior matches each Sunday and attended presentation nights.
He struck up a friendship with the father of a boy at the club in 2008.
He then “groomed” the family, befriending his victim and his victim’s brother.
He bought the boys McDonald’s and chatted with them about football and life.
Lean and the father would often drink alcohol together at the family home on Wednesdays and Sundays and he would sometimes stay the night if too drunk to get home.
On one of those occasions, between March and September, 2008, Lean slept in the same room as the brothers.
His young victim woke to find Lean in his bed.
Lean had the boy in a headlock with one hand over his mouth.
The boy said he could not “move or breathe”.
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Lean, who said “shoosh” and “it’s all right”, molested and committed lewd acts on the boy.
The frightened victim broke free and ran to his brother who had gotten up to go to the toilet.
The boy, who was “too scared to sleep”, begged his brother to stay awake.
Later, Lean said to the boy: “if you tell anyone, I’ll come back to you”.
The victim, now in his early 20s and with children of his own, reported the crime in 2017 after he discovered the man had moved into the same area.
Lean admitted to investigators that he bought players pizza and befriended the boy’s father, but denied molesting the boy.
“Wouldn’t have done that, no way,” he told police.
“If I did it, I don’t remember doing it.”
Lean also said there was no sinister motive behind him using a fake name around the club, but later told police he knew he “wasn't supposed to be there”.
In court, the victim read out his impact statement to Judge Felicity Hampel.
The victim said Lean was a “friend” involved with the football club who he thought was “cool”.
“I looked up to him as he was a friend of the family,” the victim said.
The victim said he felt sick, frightened, insecure, anxious and had recurring nightmares since Lean “showed his true colours”.
The victim also said he “lost trust in everyone” and became an “angry child” after the assault.
He said he stopped playing football, left school and had trouble staying in the same job for too long.
“(Lean) took my self-worth … my future,” the victim said.
“(My) innocence was lost that night.
“I felt like he took a lot of me that night.
Judge Hampel said the victim showed “great courage”.
”He is in no way responsible for what happened to him that night,” Judge Hampel said.
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Judge Hampel said Lean was a “popular figure” who held “special status” at the club.
“(This) was a considerable amount of grooming,” she said.
“You became someone the club and the boys became beholden to.
“(You) gained trust with the club and became welcome in the home.”
Lean, who also pleaded guilty to four counts of failing to comply with reporting obligations, was sentenced to a maximum four years and six months.
He had spent 122 days in custody at the time of sentencing.