A former Tasmanian scout master — who was found to have committed sexual offences against six boys throughout a 14-year period — has been sentenced to eight years in jail, with the judge describing his crimes as "evil and despicable".
WARNING: This story contains details that may be distressing.
Martinus Nicholas Hulsman, now 87, was found guilty by a jury of seven charges of child sexual abuse.
The first five of the charges — including one count of persistent sexual abuse of a child, three counts of indecent assault and one count of doing an indecent act with a child — were committed when he was a Scout master in Devonport.
In delivering his sentence, Supreme Court of Tasmania's Justice Michael Brett said that — between 1976 and 1987, when Hulsman was aged between 42 and 53 — the accused used his position as scout master to "create circumstances in which you were able to be alone with the boy in question".
The children Hulsman abused were aged between seven and 13 years.
Hulsman would sleep with the child in a tent while on scout camps, the court was told, with the crimes involving him touching and stroking the child's genitals and engaging in other forms of non-penetrative sexual conduct.
On one occasion, he placed a child's hand on his own erect penis.
"Your conduct involved predatory behaviour. Each child must have found the experience terrifying and traumatic," Justice Brett said.
"It is difficult to imagine the terror and confusion each must have felt when he realised you were, in fact, not his protector but rather someone to be feared."
Convicted likely to die in prison
Justice Brett said each of the accounts from the now-grown men were "compelling".
"I am satisfied beyond reasonable doubt of the honesty and accuracy of the testimony of each complainant," he said.
The court was told Hulsman was expelled from his Scouts Australia position when complaints from some of the boys surfaced.
Justice Brett said that each crime "represented a serious breach of trust" and that he had caused lifelong harm to each of the complainants.
The court was told Hulsman had been interviewed by police on four separate occasions since 1999 regarding aspects of the crimes.
"At no time did you admit any of this conduct," Justice Brett said.
Justice Brett told the court that Hulsman had shown no remorse and did not accept responsibility for his actions.
"I have no doubt the memory of your crimes is a permanent feature of their lives," he said.
Hulsman will be eligible for parole after serving four years of his sentence, but Justice Brett said his poor health meant he'd likely spend the remainder of his life in prison.
