Jailed for 28 years, sex predators who abused dozens of pupils for decades
A PREDATORY art teacher who subjected 22 vulnerable children to decades of sexual and physical abuse has been jailed for 16 years.
Matthew George, 73, was earlier found guilty of 39 charges against the pupils at Kerelaw residential school in Stevenston, Ayrshire.
Support worker John Muldoon, 69, was also jailed for 12 years at the High Court in Dundee yesterday for his part in the systemic abuse of children at the school.
Members of the public in the gallery clapped as the pair were given lengthy sentences over abuse at the school for a second time. In 2006, George was jailed for ten years and Muldoon for two-and-a-half years in connection with abuse of other children.
Judge Lady Drummond said she had taken the previous case into account and noted the men were unrepentant and still accepted no responsibility for their crimes.
Sentencing George, she noted the offences took place in classrooms, residential units and at his home, and involved punching and kicking youngsters as well as lining them up to throw golf balls at them.
She also said George had seriously sexually abused some victims and induced other men to record it. ‘These young people at Kerelaw were some of the most vulnerable in society and were there to be looked after,’ she said.
‘You took advantage of your role to groom and manipulate them. They were too frightened of you to speak out.’ His behaviour had ‘destroyed their childhoods and had a devastating impact on their adult lives’.
Lady Drummond added: ‘The damage you inflicted was physical, emotional and psychological.’ The judge said he had ‘shown no remorse, no empathy or insight towards any of them’ and the ‘persistent and predatory nature of your offending’ meant only a custodial sentence was appropriate.
She echoed the comments in sentencing Muldoon and noted he had punched, kicked and twisted the arms of pupils as well as hitting them with objects and burning them with cigarettes. She said he had been convicted of sexually assaulting five pupils, including raping one repeatedly over a twoyear period and raping another ‘on a weekly basis.’
Both men were placed on the sex offenders’ register for life.
Kerelaw was opened as a residential school for 72 boys in 1970, before expanding to include a mixed-sex secure unit in 1983.
It catered for pupils with significant behavioural, emotional or educational needs.
Allegations of abuse began to surface in 2004 and in 2009 an independent inquiry was launched. It found failures in management and a ‘macho culture’.
Several victims have spoken of the traumatic impact on their lives. Five died before their evidence could be heard at the second trial of the men, who were convicted last month at the High Court in Glasgow.
‘Destroyed their childhoods’