Detectives believe there could be more victims who attended Daruk training school

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Police are calling for those who lived in a western Sydney boys’ home from 1965 to 1985 to come forward, saying many of them suffered “horrific experiences” being abused by an alleged paedophile ring.

A man allegedly linked to a paedophile ring based at Daruk training school that terrorised vulnerable children has been brought before the courts – and police are circling dozens of other offenders.

The 67-year-old Queensland man allegedly molested boys at the now defunct school at Berkshire Park in the 1970s but it is understood that he was not a member of staff.

The school was tasked with taking care of young offenders and troubled teens but detectives found 80 of the boys – mostly aged 10 to 14 – endured “significant sexual abuse”.

Police are urging others who lived in Daruk from 1965 to 1985 to come forward.

“We need to reach out to these victims,” Detective Superintendent Brett McFadden told reporters in Sydney on Monday. “The number that have come forward have described their accounts as what can only be considered horrific experiences.”

So far, about 25 staff members or people linked to the school have been identified as persons of interest, although some have since died.

Detectives believe the already lengthy list of alleged victims could grow significantly – as could the number charged over the abuse.

The 67-year-old man was arrested in Brisbane in late February and extradited to New South Wales.

He faced Penrith local court on 2 March on 19 historical charges including assault and buggery on boys, aged 12 and 13, in the late 1970s.

Further arrests are considered “imminent”, police said on Monday.

Many of the victims had a chequered history with police. “[But] we’re not judging them,” McFadden said, adding the detectives hoped to give them a “chance to be heard”.

Investigators were not ruling out the possibility the crimes “transcended” the school as the victims and offenders moved through other facilities in the care system.

The 67-year-old was granted bail when he appeared in Penrith but police will challenge that ruling in court on Wednesday.

