Supreme Court Judge Simone Wolfe Reece was left in disbelief by a sex offender’s actions before she sentenced him to serve time in prison on Friday.

In sending away St Mary native Sheridan Shepherd for sex crimes against seven minors, the daughter of retired Chief Justice Lensley Wolfe poured scorn on his actions questioning, “How, how can it be acceptable that a man at your age could find yourself in a position to abuse a six-year-old, a 10-year-old?”

Shepherd, now 40 years old, had pleaded guilty on four separate indictments for six counts of buggery, four counts of grievous sexual assault, one count of indecent assault and one count of sexual touching in 2021. He was 38 years old at the time of the offences.

Following several sentencing postponements caused by varying issues, Justice Wolfe Reece slapped him with a cumulative 77-year sentence, which was whittled down to 17 years and 11 months based on the fact that the prison terms were ordered to run concurrently.

On indictment one which had three counts of buggery, he was sentenced to four years and seven months on each count.

On indictment two, for the charge of grievous sexual assault, he was sentenced to 17 years and 11 months.

On indictment three, which had two counts of grievous sexual assault and one count of sexual touching, Shepherd was sentenced to 17 years and 11 months and five years and one month, respectively.

On indictment four — one count of indecent assault, one count of grievous sexual assault and three counts of buggery — he was sentenced to four years and two months for the indecent assault count, 17 years and 11 months for grievous sexual assault, and four years and seven months each for the buggery counts.

The convicted man, however, benefited from discounts for his guilty pleas and deductions based on time already spent in custody and the mitigating factors in the case.

He will become eligible for parole after he has served 12 years in prison.

Wolfe Reece, in her sentencing address, rebuked Shepherd for manipulating the children and taking advantage of his knowledge that they were attracted to the games and gadgets which were at his establishment and using those to gain their affections.

“You used it to gain their trust and take advantage,” she said while Shepherd shook his head as if denying the charge. She said that while she recognised his own difficult childhood, it was “no excuse” for what the children had to endure.

She further chastised Shepherd for abusing his position of trust with the children and their parents, some of whom saw him as a friend.

“They had a certain trust in you and you breached that trust. Not only did you breach it, but you eradicated it,” she stated.

“We, as a country, need to indicate that we will not accept that type of behaviour; our responsibility is to protect the children of this county,” the judge stated.

She further noted that there was an element of “premeditation” in Shepherd’s actions, adding that a custodial sentence was beyond question.

Shepherd’s attorney Christopher Hibbert, in pleading for leniency for his client ahead of the sentences being handed down, said the 40-year-old father of one child was the victim of various forms of abuse as a youngster, and had run away to escape his harsh environment, only to experience physical abuse in the streets where he sought refuge.

Hibbert further pleaded for counselling for his client as part of his rehabilitation while noting that paedophilia was “too prevalent in our society”. He, however, pointed out that the sex acts done by his client “were all committed without the use of violence which would have made it a lot worse”, evoking a scoffing sound from one complainant’s relative.

A subdued Shepherd sat in the dock, his hair in tiny plaits, sporting a red and white shirt and blue jeans pants. During the plea and mitigation address by his attorney, Shepherd, who squirmed slightly in his seat, was observed wiping his eyes with his fingers, at one point running his hand through his squiggly plaits.

A relative of one of the victims, who sat about two feet from where Shepherd was seated, kept her head bowed throughout most of the proceedings, only emitting pained gasps intermittently.