Former scout leader John Pycock jailed for child sex offences

Judge Sean Morris told Pycock he had "completely devastated lives"

A former scout leader who admitted five charges of indecently assaulting three boys in the 1980s has been jailed.

John Pycock, 73, sexually abused the boys, aged eight to 11, while he was a scout leader in Billinghay, Lincolnshire.

Lincoln Crown Court heard how he invited the boys to his house while his wife was at work and abused them.

He was sentenced to four years and three months in prison and placed on the sex offenders' register for life.

Stephen Kemp, prosecuting, said the abuse took place between 1987 and 1990 when Pycock invited the boys to his home while his wife was working night shifts as a nurse.

The offences only came to light last year after one of his victims met Pycock at a social event and afterwards made a complaint to police.

Judge Sean Morris said it was "a monstrous breach of trust".

He told Pycock, of Fiskerton, near Lincoln: "You have pleaded guilty to a catalogue of offending against young boys. You have completely devastated lives."

"Your victims have been deeply affected by this and it is affecting them even now," he added.