A former Canberra Scout master claims he did not know molesting and raping a boy was illegal when he did it.
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But Willem Bowen Scheeren, 58, said he sought professional help from psychologists when he realised the impact the crimes had had on the victim.
Scheeren has pleaded guilty in the ACT Supreme Court to committing 11 counts of indecent assault and one of buggery on the child between 1979-80.
Court documents said Scheeren had been a 23-year-old Scout Master when he became friends with the victim's family through their connection to the Scouting movement.
The boy began spending time with the offender, which included helping him in his shop during the Christmas holidays and after school.
On one occasion, Scheeren raised the subject of sex with the boy, then 10, and then showed him pornographic magazines.
The offender then performed and received oral sex from the boy.
But Scheeren's abuse was not only confined to the shop.
Raping the boy, then 11, at his home and performing sex acts at another property in 1980.
The victim told a friend in the late 1980s but did not report the crimes to police until 2003.
In 2005, Scheeren made admissions to police during a taped record of interview.
But a legal loophole meant police could not charge Scheeren as a sex offender who committed crimes against boys between 1976 and 1985. The law required perpetrators to be prosecuted within 12 months of the crime.
The ACT Government closed the technicality in November last year and Scheeren was subsequently charged in January.
The offender told a Supreme Court sentencing hearing on Wednesday that he had known sexually assaulting the then 11-year-old had been "naughty" and "wrong".
But Scheeren – who said he had also been raped as a child – claimed he did not know the sex acts had been illegal at the time.
"I didn't understand the real severity of it," Scheeren said.
"It was within the lifestyle I was living at the time. It was part of my childhood."
Scheeren said he sought professional help when he realised his wrongdoing soon after. But he said the first counsellor threatened to report him to police, while the second wanted to give his genitals electric shocks.
Scheeren said he did eventually get help, but only after using an alias and visiting a Sydney practitioner.
He also attempted to apologise to the victim for a "lifetime of mistakes", but the boy had moved out of his parents' home.
Defence barrister Ray Livingston said his client had shown genuine remorse and led an otherwise crime-free life.
Prosecutor Sara Gul said there had been no dispute the offender had expressed remorse and attempted to rehabilitate himself. But she argued the fact he had used an alias to avoid detection and abused a position of trust added to the seriousness the offences.
The offender was remanded in custody and will be sentenced next month.