AUSTRALIA
ABC News
By Irena Ceranic
A 73-year-old former Salvation Army church member, who a Perth court heard had a hidden sexual desire for teenage boys, has been found guilty of child sex offences dating back more than 50 years.
In a majority verdict, a District Court jury convicted William Edwin Steele of eight offences including indecently dealing with a child under 14.
The victims were five boys aged between 11 and 18.
The offences happened over a 27-year period from 1963 to 1990 at various places, including a room at the back of the Salvation Army church in Subiaco and a fruit and vegetable market where he worked as the general manager.
Steele, who has a wife and four children, committed the first offence a year before he got married.
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