The sinister actions of a childcare worker who sucked the toes of girls for sexual gratification have wrecked lives and tarnished a school's reputation, a judge has been told.
Mark Christopher Harvey, 43, was found guilty in April of persistent sexual exploitation of four girls between 2007 and 2011 when he was director of an Adelaide after-school-care program.
The offences included his sucking their toes for sexual pleasure, blindfolding them, and touching them under their clothing, actions described as sinister and sly by prosecutor Mark Norman SC.
He told a District Court sentence hearing on Friday that Harvey should be given no leniency, noting he had shown no remorse, and his victims and their families had to give evidence.
When Harvey went to trial, he was serving a jail term for unlawful intercourse with a child whom he tricked into performing a sex act on a date after the other offences.
His matter sparked a royal commission into the SA Education Department's handling of school sex abuse cases.
In a rare move, the court was read a community impact statement prepared by the school.
It referred to having been a highly respected, thriving establishment until Harvey's offending, which led to a drop in enrolments, and distrust and tension among staff, parents and students.
"The school's reputation was tarnished beyond comprehension," the statement said.
"Staff were guilt-ridden for not recognising the signs of abuse in the children."
In another statement, a victim's mother said her previously happy daughter was now anxious and had panic attacks about doing anything out of her routine.
"The innocence and joys of being a child have been taken away," she said.
"My husband and I are struggling to deal with feeling of helplessness and guilt."
Another mother said she had suffered a stroke as a result of the stress and felt she had failed her children in not protecting them.
"Mark you have no idea how many lives you have destroyed," she said.
Harvey's lawyer Peter Morrison referred to his client's poor health which required him to undergo regular dialysis and to his desire to partake in a sex offenders program.
He will be sentenced on June 27.
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