The Ombudsman found Puffing Billy's board and management repeatedly failed to act on complaints about sexual abuse, exposing "countless innocent volunteers" to predatory men. “The Puffing Billy Board’s failures are monumental. The inaction from 1985 to 1991 deserves particular opprobrium. In 1985 members of the Board knew that Whitehead was under police investigation for child sexual offences yet he was not removed until 1991,” Ms Glass wrote. Loading “They failed to act on complaints or even record contacts; in one notable case punishing the victim. One former board member even suggested to us that it was the children who were predatory. "Double standards prevailed for decades. Minor thefts were reported to police with great vigour, yet allegations of child sexual abuse were never reported,” Ms Glass wrote.

According to Ms Glass, the men responsible for that railway and other similar types did more to protect their trains and alleged offenders than they did to protect children. The report named eight individuals and two institutions over their failure to act to protect children. The Age has confirmed that one of the two further former Puffing Billy volunteers now under police investigation for alleged historical child sex abuse offences was close to Whitehead, who died in jail in 2015 after being convicted earlier that year of sexually abusing six boys. Convicted sex offenders Robert Whitehead (left) and Anthony Hutchins (right) with young volunteers at Puffing Billy in 1979. Credit:John Thompson No further details were available about the second man under investigation.

One victim, Wayne Clarke, who first told his story in The Age in 2015, said he was pleased and relieved by the Ombudsman's findings. Other victims had similar reactions. “It’s a good thing for the future of the rail fan movement to know the likes of Robert Whitehead will never be tolerated again," Mr Clarke said. A visibly upset Tourism Minister John Eren said on Monday that he would meet with victims individually to apologise "profusely" and ask their views on how a public apology should be delivered. John Eren Credit:Joe Armao [Whitehead], through his time in prison, has deceased and is hopefully burning in hell Tourism minister John Eren

Mr Eren said he was shocked by the abuse, adding that Puffing Billy management had protected a “monster among them because he was powerful”. “Management chose to ignore these children in order to protect their own reputation,” he said, adding that he hoped Whitehead was now "burning in hell". The Emerald Tourist Railway Board, which is responsible for Puffing Billy and reports to Mr Eren, was disbanded last Friday. Puffing Billy's long-serving chief executive John Robinson was stood down in April and his contract will not be renewed. He has been accused of misleading the board in relation to Whitehead and the Ombudsman's inquiry. A tale of two letters The Ombudsman's report reveals how callous Puffing Billy was in dealing with boys subjected to sexual abuse. Two letters, read side by side, illustrate the point.

The first is a scrawled handwritten letter by a teenage William David Elms in 1986. In it, he asks Puffing Billy management if he can return as a volunteer having served a one year ban imposed on him after reporting “a problem” with senior Puffing Billy paedophiles, Robert Whitehead and Tony Hutchins. The teenager's "problem" was that the pair had cruelly sexually abused him. “I’m writing to find out if I am allowed back to Puffing Billy,” the young Mr Elms wrote. “PS Can you write to me and let me know ASAP.” The second is the letter of reply from Puffing Billy Society secretary at the time, Robert Emmerson. “I think that in view of the fact that the problem to which you refer in your letter has not been resolved, it would be a good idea if you didn’t return to active participation at present,” he wrote. Whitehead and Hutchins were still involved with Puffing Billy at the time of this response.

Whitehead remained at Puffing Billy until 1991, despite being under police investigation for child sex offences. Hutchins was jailed after being convicted of 66 sex abuse offences in 1987. Mr Elms, the boy who loved Puffing Billy so much he was begging to be allowed back despite his horrific abuse, never returned. 'Wilful blindness' and 'ineptitude' Ms Glass's report reveals that Whitehead was responsible for screening volunteers at Puffing Billy and was in charge of its archives and handling of complaints. He and Hutchins were also responsible for taking boys on overnight work camps at Puffing Billy. They could roster on who they liked and were able to isolate the more vulnerable boys. But Whitehead was first jailed in 1959 for abducting and molesting a boy scout. Ms Glass's investigators found even earlier complaints about him dating back to the 1940s.

Somehow, Whitehead was given his Victorian Government railway job back after his release from Melbourne’s notorious Pentridge Prison in 1960. He rose to become a train controller at Melbourne’s Spencer Street station, now known as Southern Cross. This position gave him great status in the volunteer rail community and unimpeded access to children. In the 1960s and 1970s, Whitehead was an important figure at Puffing Billy and the Australian Railway Historical Society based in North Williamstown. But in 1973, Whitehead suddenly left the historical society all of a sudden. He has since been accused of performing indecent sexual acts on boys there. Omudsman Deborah Glass. Credit:Simon Schluter

None of this seemed to matter at Puffing Billy, even though the Ombudsman found one former board member warned his own son to stay away from Whitehead. Whitehead rose to become secretary of the Puffing Billy Society, and when he was finally forced out under the weight of allegations in 1991, his services received great praise. Ms Glass criticised the Victorian Railways for being a part of a group of organisations which showed “wilful blindness” and “ineptitude” when it came to dealing with allegations of Whitehead’s abuse. A victim's story Ms Glass singled out one Whitehead victim, Wayne Clarke for individual praise. It was Mr Clarke who raised Whitehead’s abuse of him in 1975 with police in 2014, a statement that sparked an investigation which led to Whitehead's conviction for 24 offences against six boys.

Mr Clarke also contacted The Age at the time and triggered a series of reports detailing how Whitehead was able to act with impunity for decades. These reports led to more victims coming forward. He also pushed several government agencies to investigate how Whitehead was able to operate unchecked for such a long time. His efforts ultimately led to the Ombudsman's inquiry. As a 13-year-old train-loving boy, Mr Clarke had got to know Whitehead through the man's official job at Spencer Street Station. Whitehead had secured long-term leases of disused railway stations in Melbourne and country Victoria from the Victorian government, his long-term employer and, in 1975, he charmed Clarke's parents, who let their son go with Whitehead to the disused Taradale station for an overnight stay. Wayne Clarke who was abused by Robert Whitehead when he was 13 years old. Credit:Simon O'Dwyer Mr Clarke said Whitehead's demeanour changed in the car on the way to the country station.

"By the way, everyone who goes to Taradale has a nude initiation," Clarke recalled Whitehead saying. When they arrived at the station late that day, Whitehead locked the door behind Clarke and barked: "Take your clothes off." "I froze. I was terrified," Mr Clarke told The Age in 2015. Later that night, Whitehead would leave Mr Clarke naked and alone trussed to a tall step ladder. He thought he was going to die.