A terrified young boy resorted to sewing himself into his sleeping bag on camping trips to protect himself from his perverted scout master.

For more than 15 years, Norman Thompson lived a double life, convincing the adults around him that he was trustworthy and dedicated to the welfare of the young boys who flocked to his scout unit.

But in reality Thompson was a predatory paedophile.

As a scout leader in the Allerdale area for 12 years, he had access to a steady stream of trusting young boys, all of them eager to take advantage of the boy scout adventures that this dedicated volunteer was offering.

Carlisle Crown court heard how Thompson – manipulative, clever, and charming – cynically abused his position so that he could sexually exploit the young boys in his care, whose ages ranged from nine to 15.

For those youngsters who were admitted to his “inner circle” of scouts there was the promise of regular adventure – camping trips to the Lake District, holidays in Scotland, and even one trip abroad.

Behind that facade of the dedicated volunteer Thompson's real motive was utterly sorodid: he had a perverse sexual appetite for young boys. In court, after weeks of legal debate, Thompson admitted 29 indecent assaults against seven boys.

He also pleaded guilty to taking and storing indecent photos of one of his young victims.

Describing him as manipulative, Judge Peter Davies jailed 66-year-old Thompson for 16 years and ruled that his name will be on the Sex Offenders' Register for life.

Outling the case, prosecutor Tim Evans said: “All of the victims viewed him initially as a role model who they looked up to; who took them on trips.”

Yet unknown to their parents, Thompson was secretly grooming the boys, choosing the most vulnerable victims. He listened to them, laughed at their jokes, and then plied them with alcohol and showedn them pornography.

“In one example of wicked irony,” said Mr Evans, “parents who could not afford to pay for the full trip [abroad] allwoed their son to earn part of the cost of that trip by doing chores at the defendant's house.”

The barrister said the sex assaults admitted by Thompson were specimen charges, representing a course of conduct over 15 years.

Mr Evans said Thompson's victims were chosen from a group of boys who were perceived to have been his “inner circle,” selected for more exclusive camping trips. They were also “treated” to trips on Thompson's boat, which he kept at Maryport.

Mr Evans said that Thompson was so trusted by parents that some of the boys were allowed to stay at the defendant's house in Aspatria.

Describing one assault, committed as Thompson was staying at a friend's house in Maryport, Mr Evans said the young victim has lay terrified and motionless as Thompson molested him.

The following morning, the defenant told his victim there had been nothing wrong with what happened, telling the boy that they were simply different and had chosen to live their lives differently.

“The boy had made no such choice,” said Mr Evans. “This predatory scout master was making the choices.” During or before some of the assaults, the court heard, Thompson showed his victim child pornography.

Mr Evans said: “Sexual abuse would also take place on camping trips. If just two of them were on the trip – which was often the case – the abuse would be every night. At other times, Thompson sexually abused boys in his van.

The barrister outlined how Thompson behaved on camping trips. They involved a lot of drinking, and talk about girls and sexual things.

One victim was taken on a holiday to the far noth of Scotland, and after claiming that the local camp sites were all full, Thompson told the boys he was with that they would have to stay in a local hotel.

The victim described it as posh – the sort of hotel you'd take a new girlfriend to, according to one victim. When the conversation became sexual, the boy felt intensely uncomfortable. The same boy paid a later visit to the defendant's house, staying there on the eve of a trip abroad, the court heard.

Thompson again plied him with so mucy drink that he was “really drunk,” said Mr Evans. The defendant then aggressively began talking about sex, and at this point the boy confided in Thompson, telling him that somebody had tried to touch him sexually when he was in the cub scouts.

Mr Evans then related the experience of another victim.

After a day of scouting activities, the boy stayed overnight on the scout HQ. Mr Evans said: “Drink had flowed freely – an unhappily common feature of what was plainly part of the grooming process and he had drunk some.

“He slept in an office room and remembers being woken up in his sleeping bag to find Norman Thompson [sexually assaulting] him. As he realised what was happening, he pushed Norman Thompson away.

“He cannot rememer thereafter if he actually fell asleep or pretended to be asleep. Nothing was ever said about what happened by either of them but the he [the boy] sewed his sleeping bag up to stop it happening again.”

The details of the abuse carried out by Thompson are too upsetting to reveal in detail but the court heard accounts of several such attacks – including one where he sexually assaulted a nine year old boy while sharing a tent with him.

One of the seven victims came forward after reading that Thompson had been charged in the News & Star.

Defence barriser Alison Whalley said the defendant's wife had stood by him but the only mitigation he had was his guilty pleas.

The barrister handed Judge Peter Davies a letter from the defendant, containing a pathetic admission of his wrongdoing. Thompson stated: “I recognise that in these incidents I didn't behave as a responsible adult.”

The judge told Thompson: “Your reputation in the community was such that parents trusted you enough allow their sons to stay at your home at night frequently... They were impressionable and therefore vulnerable.

“During almost two decades you abused and exploited the situation. You carefully garenered the image of a trustworthy, avuncular, generous pillar of the commmity. The acquired the confidence of local families, but what you were actually doing was deceiving them.”

Out of shame or fear, or both, his victims had not spoken out.

“They buried it away,” said the judge.

“You expected they would not complain and even if they did you were confident that you would be believed instead. You acted, you thought, with impunity.”

Thompson's abuse had a profound impact on his victims, said the judge.

Judge Davies spoke also of the damage done to scout and youth groups across the country, whose task of recruiting volunteers and attracting children to join had been made more difficult by such cases.

He told Thompson: “You are disturbing and manipulative... People like you undermine and terrify families and educational establishments alike.”