A FORMER scoutmaster from Weymouth has been convicted of indecently assaulting children at a care home as part of the biggest-ever police inquiry into institutional abuse.

Wheelchair-bound William Rogers, 51, carried out a series of assaults during sadistic torture games with boys aged as young as nine.

Former care centre worker Rogers, who was known to boys as Big Bill, was the first person to be prosecuted as part Operation React, set up two years ago to investigate allegations of abuse at care homes throughout the West Country.

He has been convicted of assaults on young boys at the Olands Observation and Assessment Centre near Taunton.

Rogers, of Corporation Road, Weymouth, has been found guilty of 16 counts of indecent assault, one of inciting boys to indecent assault and one of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Rogers, who has had his right leg amputated, had previously admitted 13 other similar charges, but the jury was discharged after they failed to reach a verdict on the remaining two counts of indecent assault. All the offences took place between 1981 and 1987.

Sentencing is due to take place at Bristol Crown Court today. Rogers was acquitted of two indecent assaults. Police said they were pleased with the number of guilty verdicts.

Det Sgt Maurice Flay, of Avon and Somerset Police, said: "The whole team is very pleased with what has happened, but we are more pleased for the victims. I know it was quite a terrifying experience for many of them, recounting their stories in court."

Operation React started when a man told police he had been sexually assaulted while he was a resident at a care home in the west.

Police have since interviewed more than 1,000 children who stayed at care homes in the region. A dedicated team of 22 officers has been investigating allegations of child abuse stretching back more than 30 years. Operation React is expected to be the biggest-ever investigation into institutional child abuse.

DS Flay said: "I have been shocked by the number of men, and it is mainly men, who have now told us they were victims of sexual abuse while they were in care.

"Some have recounted their stories without any difficulty, but some have severe psychological problems."

Avon and Somerset Police has set up a help line for victims of care home abuse on 0117 945 4031.