Paedo scout leader jailed after victim watched telly soap
Predator handed 26-year sentence for abusing kids
AN Irish scout leader who sexually abused boys has been jailed for 26 years after a victim watched a rape storyline on Emmerdale and called police.
Mcnally was a manipulative sex offender who targeted vulnerable boys
DET CON HELEN SANDERS NOTTINGHAM CROWN COURT
Steven Mcnally, 67, carried out the abuse when he ran Bishop’s Own Troop and worked at Nazareth House Children’s Home in Nottingham, England.
Between 1974 and 1979 he sexually abused five boys who were aged between five and 15.
Pervert Mcnally’s crimes went undetected for 37 years until one of his victims, now an adult, watched a paedophile storyline on telly soap Emmerdale in 2016.
The harrowing plot refers to character Aaron Livesy having been raped by his evil father Gordon as a child. After watching the show, Mcnally’s victim reported him to police.
During their investigations four other men, who had also been abused by Mcnally, came forward.
He was then extradited from his home in Ireland to face trial at Nottingham Crown Court and he was found guilty there of 24 out of 29 charges.
The offences he was convicted of included 18 counts of indecent assault, five of indecency with a child and one of buggery.
PREYED
On Friday he was jailed for 26 years with an extra one-year extended licence period.
The trial heard Mcnally preyed on the victims while working as a housemaster at Nazareth House, which was run by the Sisters of Nazareth.
Four of the victims were abused at the children’s home, while a fifth was attacked after joining the scout group.
Jurors heard the victim from the scout group was abused by Mcnally on camping trips from the age of 11, including in Crich and Tollerton.
The court heard Mcnally was 18 at the time and carried out the abuse after entering the victim’s tent on repeated occasions.
The second victim, who was nine at the time, told officers he had been having a rough time in the care home and had been beaten by the nuns.
He said Mcnally was aware of the beatings and told the child he would look after him and visit him in the night to make sure he was OK.
The court heard the predator used his position to repeatedly sexually abuse the child in his room and car.
Following the sentencing, Detective Constable Helen Sanders, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “Mcnally was a manipulative sex offender who systematically targeted vulnerable boys over a period of six years.”