In sentencing their abuser to 20 years' jail, with a non-parole period of 13-and-a-half years, Judge Tim Gartelmann acknowledged he was imposing what was close to a life sentence on 68-year-old former maths teacher from St Pius X high school, Adamstown.

The public gallery erupted in applause at the end of the marathon 90-minute sentencing, which including the judge recounting harrowing details of Hall’s opportunistic, violent and degrading sexual assaults on his former students at his Merewether unit, the school, in the surf and on shooting trips between 1973 and 1985.

“Have a nice holiday, Ted,” one victim shouted at Hall as he was led from the dock to the cells on Friday afternoon.

Hall had pleaded not guilty to charges including sexual intercourse, assault, acts of indecency and attempting to detain a boy for sexual gratification.

Hall has been in custody since a judge-alone trial ended in October with him being convicted of 21 offences against eight students.

He sat upright in Newcastle District Court on Friday, listened attentively but showed no emotion throughout the sentencing.

Hall left St Pius X in June 1986, shortly after a boy and his parents reported sexual abuse allegations to police.

He later taught at Sydney private boys’ schools including Newington College and Trinity Grammar. 

In a Newington College report after Mr Hall's retirement in 2000, he was described as a teacher and rugby referees coordinator.

“Under his care the number and quality of junior referees improved considerably,” the report said.

While at Newington he led school waterpolo team tours, including to South Africa.

Hall later taught at Gundagai High in 2014 and was a casual teacher at Illabo Public School until March 2016.

He was living in Junee when he was arrested and charged with 16 child sex offences in July 2016.  

Judge Gartelmann said victim impact statements previously provided to the court gave a profound insight into how Hall’s offending had affected each of his victims.

They included an account from a man who said he lived in constant fear of Hall.

"On a daily basis I feared I would be physically abused and grabbed on my genitals," the former St Pius X student told the court on an earlier occasion. 

"I was mentally tortured from the abuse and was trying to avoid contact from Ted. 

"I was not given the opportunity to learn like other children."

Judge Gartelmann noted that Hall had shown no remorse for his crimes and that he had maintained his innocence throughout the proceedings against him.

Hall's victims included a former student who testified that Hall had taken an interest in his rugby playing.  

Hall invited him to his unit where he gave him food and alcohol.

During an overnight stay Hall violently sexually abused him, punched and smacked him and forced him to perform oral sex.

He warned the student he would be “dead if you say anything”. He also threatened to kill the student’s parents.

Years later when the former student ran into Hall in a Queensland RSL club he was in shock. He panicked and hid a few weeks later when Hall walked into the car-hire business where the former student worked.

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Another former student gave evidence that another St Pius X  teacher had sent him to Hall’s room for misbehaviour.

After physically assaulting the student for "acting like a dog", Hall forced the boy to perform oral sex on him.

A third man testified that  Mr Hall removed his clothes during a drive to Barrington Tops, asked the then 13-year-old to remove his clothes, and continued driving until reaching a clearing where they laid on a blanket nude. 

The former student massaged him with sunscreen until he asked to be taken home.

Judge Gartelmann acknowledged that no court sentence could undo the damage to Hall’s victims who had experienced anxiety, depression, embarrassment, feelings of isolation and addiction to alcohol and drugs in the decades after they were abused.

“It is understood that child abuse has long-term ramifications,” he said.

Outside, several victims said they were satisfied with the court’s punishment.

“It’s been a long time coming,” a man said.

“It’s a good result and a well deserved sentence.”

Another victim said he felt the sentence was adequate: “It could have been longer, but it deserved at least 20 years,” he said.

Another said he would try and move on with his life.

“He can now suffer like we have for 30 years,” he said.

“Hopefully the [Newcastle-Maitland Catholic] diocese might finally apologise.”

A Newcastle Herald article about the charges prompted further former students to come forward.

The Department of Education said it acted immediately to ensure Hall would not be working in public schools after learning of his arrest.

Judge Gartelmann noted on Friday that Hall was being sentenced relatively late in his life for crimes he committed between the ages of 22 and 36. Hall had also not committed any offences since leaving St Pius X.

Hall had also provided references from a former student, a priest and a former colleague who vouched for his good character.

But the judge noted that it was Hall’s apparent good character that enabled him to hold the positions of trust and authority at school and in the community.

One victim, who was abused in the 1970s, told the court on an earlier occasion that the Catholic Education Office had told him in the 1990s that Hall was dead, after the man went to make a complaint about his former teacher.

The man discovered through a Newcastle Herald report when Hall was charged that his abuser was still alive.

“[The abuse] changed me,” he said. 

“I drank a lot of alcohol and smoked a lot of marijuana to drown out what happened to me that day.”

Hall sensationally applied for bail in December because he said he needed to see a doctor outside prison about his high blood pressure, incontinence and an eye problem.

In a statement Hall tendered at the trial of former Catholic priest and fellow St Pius X teacher John Denham, a notorious child sex offender, Hall said he had worked with about 25 priests during his decade at the school.

He described St Pius X as "a very disciplined school".

"Lay teachers and priests used the cane to discipline the boys," he told police in his statement.  

"During my time at St Pius I did not hear, see or learn of any misbehaviour by any priest against a school student."

Mr Hall was charged after an investigation by Newcastle police led by Detective Simon Grob.