ABC personality charged with 40 child abuse and assault offences spanning over three decades

By NICHOLAS COMINO FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA

Published: 04:45 BST, 4 June 2025 | Updated: 05:36 BST, 4 June 2025

A veteran ABC cameraman has been charged with over 40 child abuse and assault charges spanning over three decades. 

Trevor James Scroop, from South Australia, who also did a stint with the Department for Child Protection, was arrested and thrown behind bars in March 2023.  

The 65-year-old allegedly abused multiple children over a 34-year period between 1989 and 2023, The Advertiser reports. 

He was still employed at the ABC when his alleged offending started. 

A suppression order about the details of the alleged offending was revoked in a District Court on Wednesday following a request from prosecutors. 

Scroop, from Hillcrest in Adelaide’s southeast, has pleaded not guilty to a multitude of child abuse and offence charges. 

The court previously heard Scroop had worked with Indigenous children in the Northern Territory in his role with the Department for Child Protection. 

He has been charged with 12 counts of sexual abuse of a child, eight counts of indecent assault, three counts of aggravated indecent assault, one count of gross indecency, six counts of unlawful sexual intercourse, four counts of assault and two counts of aggravated assault.

ABC cameraman Trevor James Scroop (pictured) has been behind bars since March last year

Scroop is further charged with one count of attempted aggravated inciting or procuring a child to commit an indecent act, one count of aggravated inciting or procuring a child to commit an indecent act, one count of aggravated compelled sexual manipulation, one count of aggravated procuring a child for sexual activity, one count of attempted indecent assault, and three counts of possessing child exploitation material.

Scroop was granted bail in October of 2023, but was taken back into custody in March 2024. 

He has remained in custody since.  

Scroop had an arrangement with South Australia’s Department for Child Protection (DCP) to house Indigenous children.

During a 2023 court hearing, prosecutor Leah O’Donnell revealed that Scroop was responsible for the care of young Aboriginal boys from communities in the Northern Territory.

His home served as accommodation for students who had travelled to Adelaide to attend school.

‘It was formal in the sense that DCP had been involved. There are records that support a number of these children being in the care of the respondent and his wife,’ O’Donnell told the court.

However, she added, ‘I don’t know if all of the arrangements were formal, some may have been informal.’

The 65-year-old (pictured) allegedly abused multiple children over a 34-year period

A date for a trial is yet to be set, with prosecutors considering applying for the trial to be heard in a multiple interstate locations. 

South Australian Police Commission Grant Stevens said the charges were ‘horrific’ and ‘vile’. 

“This is a very troubling investigation which has had a devastating impact on a particular community in the Northern Territory,” he said. 

SA Premier Peter Malinauskas said the government had ‘worked really hard to pass some of the strictest laws in the country about how we treat child sex offenders and we make no apologies for that.’

‘And anyone that commits these types of crimes should know that in the state of South Australia we want the full force of the law to be imposed upon them with only the consideration of victims in mind,’ he said. 

The matter will return to court in August. 

The ABC was contacted by Daily Mail Australia for comment. 

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ABC personality charged with 40 child abuse and assault offences spanning over three decades

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