Blue Heelers and Neighbours actor sexually abused 16 young boys over 22 years.

Actor Jeremy Kewley sexually abused young boys in his home for more than two decades.

Kewley, 55, is awaiting sentencing after being convicted of assaulting 16 victims aged between nine and 14 whom he lured into his Brighton, Victoria home by advertising auditions for film roles.

Once there, he had the boys dress in lycra costumes and, while the camera was rolling, pressed himself against them, kissed them, and touched them inappropriately.

Kewley pleaded guilty to 19 charges including indecent acts with a child under 16, indecent assault, and making and possessing child pornography.

According to The Age, Kewley, who has appeared in Neighbours, Janus, Underbelly, Prisoner, The Secret Life of Us and others, believed that by disguising the assaults within scripts, the victims would be unaware they had been exploited.

“He believed he could get away with a lot of this without hurting the victim,” Kewley’s legal representative Con Heliotis, QC, told judge Duncan Allen.

Kewley’s offenses occurred between 1989 and 2011 and his victims are now aged in their 20s and 30s.

The first victim met Kewley on the set of Young Talent Time. Kewley told the child he wanted him to audition for an ad, and left his camera running while he changed into and out of costumes.

The most recent victims were doing screen tests for a short film called Malevolence, reports The Age, in which Kewley played a father who abuses his son.

Kewley could have been left in no doubt about the effects his offenses had on his victims after hearing their victim impact statements.

“This man robbed me of my life,” said one of his first victims, who has attempted suicide more than once and fallen victim to drug addiction. He once wanted to pursue a career in the entertainment industry.

Another said he’s become a teacher to empower children. “You are nothing and you will have nothing,” he told Kewley.

Police discovered almost 200 images and videos of child pornography at Kewley’s home and holiday house in Mitta Mitta.

Kewley has been appearing in Australian TV shows and films since his first role in the film The Devil’s Playground in 1976. Other credits include The Henderson Kids II, The Man From Snowy River, a four-year stint on Stingers, and his most recent role as Melbourne underworld figure Des “Tuppence” Moran in Channel Nine’s Fat Tony & Co in 2014.