VULNERABLE boys sexually abused at a children's home may have felt they had to go along with it to "stay alive", the officer in charge of the inquiry has said.
Former headmaster Carragher, a member of the Roman Catholic De La Salle order, which ran the school, was jailed for nine years for 24 sexual offences, including three now known as male rape, against seven boys.
Carragher, of Cearns Road in Prenton, Wirral, was cleared of a further 30 charges.
It was his third conviction for abusing pupils at St William's, for which he was previously jailed for 21 years.
Former chaplain McCallen, an ordained Roman Catholic priest, was jailed for 15 years for 11 sex offences, including one now known as male rape, against four boys.
He was cleared of eight other charges.
McCallen, of Whernside Crescent in Ingleby Barwick, Stockton-on-Tees, was previously jailed for two years for abusing two boys who were children of his parishioners at the Sacred Heart church in east Hull, and other offences.
The abusers were snared by Operation Reno, the biggest child abuse inquiry in the history of Humberside Police.
Detective Chief Superintendent Christine Wilson, who led Reno, said: "I think for the children who were abused, it must have seemed never-ending.
"And because physical abuse was present with sexual abuse, acquiescence would often have seemed the only way to stay alive.
"Because of the hierarchical abuse – people in charge abused children – those children must have felt incredibly isolated with nowhere to turn."
The victims came from troubled backgrounds and were some of the most vulnerable children in the country.
Det Chief Supt Wilson described both their tormentors as "unrepentant" paedophiles.
She said: "This case is not the first investigation into someone at the school, or those individuals, and at no point in any investigation have they admitted their guilt, and they are serial child abusers. Paedophiles.
"My personal view is they were in positions of trust and authority and deliberately abused that trust and authority repeatedly, so their positions provided them with a degree of protection and anonymity.
"They carried on until St William's was shut down. If it hadn't shut, they would have carried on."
Sentencing the pair at Leeds Crown Court yesterday, Judge Geoffrey Marson QC told them: "It is perfectly clear that each of you targeted some of the most vulnerable boys.
"You groomed them, abused them for your own sexual gratification, then threatened them to ensure they did not complain, and you, Carragher, were physically violent.
"It is perfectly obvious that each of you has a long-standing and deeply ingrained sexual interest in teenage boys. It is an interest, I have no doubt, that continues to persist."
During the trial, the jury heard that, had the victims complained, it was unlikely they would have been believed because of the culture at the time, with some of the offences dating back more than 40 years.
One complainant, who often ran away, claimed he confessed to police who caught him, but was "slapped" and taken back to the home.
"I think St William's would be symptomatic with a lot of historic child abuse investigations," said Det Chief Supt Wilson.
"Society didn't accept child abuse was real; parents didn't believe that people in positions of responsibility, or in the Catholic church, could abuse children.
"And when you were in a place like St William's, being looked after by the state, it was thought it was all going to be above board.
"Despite the fact they had social workers who visited, and care providers, the reality was even if you said something, history shows us they would not have been believed because it wasn't in the culture of society at the time [to accept it]."
But the officer said the chances of such dangerous paedophiles offending with impunity for so long in a care setting were much less likely now.
She said: "Any child today can walk up to any professional and be taken seriously, and that's how much we have shifted.
"I think in care settings nowadays, it is far more socially unacceptable to abuse vulnerable people.
"The safeguards are much more robust in terms of checks and balances and inspections, and victims have much more confidence in the legal process and judicial system.
"If somebody is being abused, unless they are disabled or incapacitated in a care home, most people would have the capacity to be able to report it and would find it easy to do so.
"If a child is in a care setting, it's easy to make an allegation of abuse and to be believed. We teach our officers to believe every single victim."
Det Chief Supt Wilson said she hoped the convictions would provide a sense of justice and closure for the victims, including others who may not have come forward.
"Reno was not a trawling exercise, so we didn't see every person who would have been through the doors," she said.
"It's possible there were people abused who never came forward.
"If people have been abused, they will see that and see that as their justice as well.
"The convictions represent justice for all of the people who were brave enough to come forward and tell their stories."
Reno was launched five years ago after information was passed to the force by Jordans Solicitors.
At its peak it employed up to 50 officers, and featured about 10,000 "items" for disclosure, including medical evidence, statements, and interviews with suspects.
Det Chief Supt Wilson and her colleagues were praised by the judge for their "impeccable" work on a "particularly difficult" investigation.
