A monstrous care worker used his connections at Manchester United to help him roam the corridors of children's homes and pick out children for sexual abuse.
Bruce McLean groomed victims as young as seven and later used his connections with the football club to 'buy their silence' after abusing them in their rooms.
Former fireman McLean, of Runcorn Road, Moore, near Runcorn, was previously found guilty at Chester Crown Court of 27 child sex offences against six boys in two separate trials.
The 63-year-old abused his victims between the mid 1970s and early 1990s at two children's care homes, including one in Cheshire.
He was today jailed for 15 years and told he had to serve half his fifteen year sentence before being released on licence.
He was also placed on the Sexual offenders register for life.
A leading child abuse lawyer has branded McLean 'cold and calculating' while Judge Patrick Thompson said he was a 'sexual predator.'
He said: "You treated these boys as your sexual playthings.
"You were young and friendly and groomed these boys with trips to Manchester United and furnished them with Adidas clothing to make them compliant.
"If that didn't work you would threaten them.
"These were the actions of a sexual predator.
"I can't imagine a greater breach of trust of a person who was in a position of such responsibility.
"Your only concern being your own sexual gratification."
Judge Thompson said McLean, whose role was to care for vulnerable children, showed a 'complete lack of remorse' to any of his victims.
He said many boys had come from broken homes and were left 'bewildered' and in 'need of care and kindness' which McLean took advantage of.
He added: "You stole their childhood, their innocence and by refusing to accept responsibility and forcing them to relive what you had done you finally stole their dignity.
"It is clear you have no compassion or remorse for the damage you have caused."
McLean is facing a further trial next year on four new charges.
The court had previously heard Mclean knew players at Manchester United and would take children from Kilrie to training sessions at The Cliff ground.
He would shower the boys with free sportswear and trips to training games and then molest them afterwards.
Now a dad-of-three who was abused by McLean in the late 1970's has bravely decided to speak out about his ordeal.
After a near four decade wait for justice he is now taking legal action.
The victim - whose evidence in court helped to jail McLean - was sent to the home as a nine-year-old boy after getting into trouble at his primary school.
He says the home was ruled with an iron fist and the 'constant threat of violence' and if he tried to escape he was always brought back by the police.
He says this allowed McLean and other care home staff to abuse victims with impunity.
The victim, who lives in Cheshire and wishes to remain anonymous, said: "It was horrendous, a very scary place to be as a child and there was no escape.
"They could abuse you and do what they wanted with impunity.
"It's disgraceful that sort of thing went unchecked. We were just kids.
"These people were not only in charge of children and using them as sex objects but they were also getting paid for it.
"There was no way that those responsible for running the home didn't know what was going on.
"I have to live with the effects of his abuse for the rest of my life, but hopefully now this sentence will give me and other victims some sort of closure."
He told how McLean would regularly fondle him while pretending to restrain him in front of other boys.
He said: "It was the perfect cover. He would restrain me for no reason. Then he would start groping.
"I would start resisting and shouting and this would excite him and give him the justification he needed to restrain me further and grope me more. I had no chance as a nine year old against a grown man. We were just kids - it's disgusting."
He also told how McLean would wake him in the middle of the night and lock him and another pupil in the gym while they abused other pupils.
He said: "It was a regular occurrence, a few times a month. We used to be in there for hours.
"Me and my pal were a bit streetwise so they were locking us in so they could abuse the more vulnerable kids."
The abuse had a profound effect on most of his life and he has been plagued by drug addiction and prison and has battled with flashbacks and depression.
He said: "I have night terrors and sweats and it has affected all my relationships."
But he says now he has turned his life around to become a health worker helping people suffering with addiction.
McLean was jailed in 1997 for nine years for sexual abuse on boys while working at Cheshire-based care home Kilrie.
In January last year ex fireman McLean was charged again after more former care home pupils contacted the police to say they were victims of historic sexual abuse.
He was later found guilty of 19 charges of indecent assault and other sexual offences against boys aged between 7-14 in a trial in November 2018.
Another trial on 12 further charges in July this year led to 8 more guilty verdicts.
He was found not guilty of four charges.
Peter Garsden Head of Abuse at Simpson Millar solicitors - branded the paedophile 'cold and callous' and urged other victims to come forward.
He has already successfully sued authorities over McLean in the past, gaining victims over £100,000 in compensation and is now representing more victims.
He said: “This is one of the most prolific offenders I have dealt with.
"He ruled the care homes he worked in by fear and abused with impunity for years.
"He is a cold, callous and calculating individual who knew just what to do to target vulnerable boys.
"There appears to have been plenty of opportunities that seem to have been missed that allowed him to carry on abusing boys in his care. We will be lodging legal claims on behalf of victims with the relevant authorities over the next few months.
"In my experience, in situations like this, I estimate there will be at least another hundred affected victims who are yet to speak out and many of these will be in the Cheshire area. But now they can come forward knowing they are not alone.
"Despite Mclean being jailed today this is not the end for the victims as they continue to suffer a life sentence. But hopefully it will bring a small sense of closure."
