Leading Senior Constable Sharyn Stewart, Detective Sergeant Matthew Gildea and Detective Senior Sergeant Grant Morris have been working on the case since the first victim came to police in January 2010.

Another of McLennan’s victims came forward two weeks later.

Newspaper reports of sexual assault charges against McLennan in November 2010 led a fourth victim to police.

Detective Senior Sergeant Morris said by their nature, sex offences often took more work than other crimes.

“They are really complex matters as far as criminal law goes,” he said.

“Sexual offending is the most complex part because of the procedures and the procedural rules that exist, and the changes in the legislation over the years.’’

Leading Senior Constable Stewart said putting together the case had taken a lot of time.

“It’s putting together all the witness statements; there was more than 40,” she said.

“I was talking to the victims regularly.

“And then there’s all the peripheral work around scene diagrams and scene photographs. Then attending all the different court dates.”

Many of McLennan’s victims and their families said they were grateful for Leading Senior Constable Stewart’s support throughout the case.

Leading Senior Constable Stewart said victims of sex crime often found it difficult to attend court.

“They have to talk about something very personal,” she said.

“It takes a lot to stand up and talk about it in front of a jury.

“I certainly felt a sense of relief for the girls today.”

Detective Senior Sergeant Morris said there had been a lot of changes in recent years to make sure victims had greater access to the court.

He said positive changes included allowing victims to give witness statements remotely, speeding up trial timelines and changing the way sex offences were handled by police.

“The whole idea of the Sexual Offences and Child Abuse Investigations Team is that they are supposed to be more supportive of the victims and reduce the trauma by having just one point of contact for the victim,” Detective Senior Sergeant Morris said.

“We follow the thing the whole way through. They don’t have to have their story told over and over to ten different people.”

Detective Senior Sergeant Morris said ultimately police members had to stay impartial, seeking the truth in the hope justice would be served.

“At the end of the day our allegiance is to the truth of what occurred and that’s what we present in court,” he said.

“You have to have faith in the justice system.

“This is the community holding these people to account and exacting the punishment that is available.”