HE was the Member for Swansea and they were vulnerable children who came to him for guidance after the death of a parent or to ask about building a skatepark.
But Milton Orkopoulos, the man they thought was "trustworthy and decent", was a "wolf in sheep's clothing", an elected official who was preying on children in his electorate.
For more than a decade, including the time he was a Lake Macquarie City Councillor and then Swansea MP, Orkopoulos was grooming, drugging and raping boys aged between 10 and 17.
Orkopoulos, the disgraced MP now convicted of sexually assaulting seven boys between 1995 and 2005, was on Friday jailed for a maximum of 20 years, with a non-parole period of 13 years.
Orkopoulos has spent all but nine weeks of the last 15 years behind bars and won't be going anywhere for at least the next decade after Judge Jane Culver labelled his offending "calculated, predatory and manipulative" in a lengthy judgment in the NSW District Court on Friday.
And despite now being convicted by two juries and the weight of evidence that shows he is an evil and persistent paedophile, Orkopoulos continues to deny sexually assaulting any underage boys.
"There is no evidence of remorse or contrition," Judge Culver said.
Orkopoulos's modus operandi varied, but he would often draw young boys in by offering them cigarettes, drugs or cash.
One young boy who had been getting into trouble after both his parents died, was taken to see Orkopoulos by his grandmother in the hope the "respected MP" could provide some guidance.
Instead, Orkopoulos got him addicted to drugs and repeatedly raped him.
He would trawl an area known as "the zoo" in Swansea where there was a high-crime rate and a number of wayward kids.
He would often invite boys into his car or his electoral office at Swansea, where they would smoke cannabis and then Orkopoulos would force them into depraved sexual acts.
He often paid the boys in drugs or cash as a way to keep them quiet, keep them hooked and keep them coming back to see him.
One boy spoke to Orkopoulos about building a skatepark in Swansea and the MP assured him he was the "person who could get things done in the town".
Instead, he introduced him to drugs, took him into bushland and repeatedly raped him.
In August, Orkopoulos was forced to again listen to some of the victims whose lives he has ruined.
"I felt not wanted anywhere and would spend a lot of time on the streets, sometimes in dangerous situations, and often had no food or money," one of the victims said. "I have struggled with depression ever since then. I felt confused. I thought no one believed me. Even everyone hated me."
Another victim spoke of how their life changed after Orkopoulos repeatedly sexually abused him and introduced him to drugs.
"I've been incarcerated for most of my life since the age of 11," the man said. "I have had multiple overdoses and a drug-induced heart attack. "I have two children, and although I have wanted to be present in their lives, my ongoing psychological issues, drug addictions and ongoing incarcerations have made it difficult for me to do so. "I was alone with my trauma and basically tore my family apart and ruined my own life. It'll take the rest of my life to make things right for me and my family."
A third victim said he wanted to be a mechanic and had goals in life before he met Orkopoulos.
"I blamed my nan for taking me to see you, the member of parliament for the local area to try support and guide me in the right direction," he said. "My nan took me to see you as she thought you were someone to trust. She carried guilt and would say to me: 'where did I go wrong?' But I couldn't tell her what you did to me."
Orkopoulos was in 2008 jailed for a maximum of 13 years and eight months, with a non-parole period of nine years and three months for sexually abusing three other boys and supplying them with marijuana and heroin between 1995 and 2005.
He was released from jail in December 2019 after serving 11-and-a-half years but was returned to jail three months later after breaching his parole conditions by speaking to a child in a phone call with a relative.
His parole was revoked and while in custody, detectives charged Orkopoulos with the child sex and drug supply offences that he was convicted of in April.
As for Orkopoulos's future and his prospects of rehabilitation, he will be 77 by the time he is eligible for parole in 2033.
His lawyers submitted that despite the fact he has made little rehabilitative progress over the years, Orkopoulos would pose little threat to children when released due to likely strict conditions and his advanced age.
But Judge Culver was not so sure.
He may no longer be cloaked with respectability and authority, but Orkopoulos will always remain a wolf.
