A FORMER house warden at a care home has been convicted of physically and sexually abusing a young boy.

A Liverpool Crown Court jury took less than three hours to find 68-year-old Thomas Lees guilty of one charge of indecent assault and one of child cruelty.

They also cleared him of three charges of indecently assaulting another boy and three charges of cruelty to a third boy.

Lees, who had denied all eight charges, was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment suspended for two years and ordered to sign on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years.

Judge Dennis Clark told Lees, of West Drive, Clayton-le-Woods, near Chorley, that he deserved a prison sentence but he was suspending it because of the exceptional circumstances including the fact the offences happened more than 20 years ago, ill-health and the recent death of his wife.

Judge Clark also banned Lees from working with children again.

During the five-day trial Trevor Parry-Jones, prosecuting, said that Lees had been employed to work at the home, which cannot be named for legal reasons but is in Merseyside, to look after the children who needed care and protection.

He alleged that while presenting himself to the outside world as a caring member of staff, all the while he used his position to abuse these boys and, in two cases when the opportunity arose, satisfied his own sexual desires upon them.

The offences allegedly occurred between September 1975 and June 1980 when the boys were aged between 10 and 15 years old and resident at the home which was also a school.

The victim, who Lees was convicted of abusing, told how he indecently assaulted him when he was about 14 years old after taking him to his office to tell him off about his behaviour. Lees strenuously disputed that any of the alleged offences took place.