Victims wept inside the Old Bailey when John Cahill, who molested vulnerable youngsters at St Francis home in Shefford, was sentenced.
Judge Peter Rook QC told the 74-year-old: "It's clear that you deliberately targeted boys who you knew had no family support and were vulnerable for your own sexual gratification.
"It is apparent to me they are deeply affected by their experience and have been throughout their lives."
Mr Cahill's six convictions in March 2016 of indecent assault on four boys aged between 10 and 14 during the 1960s can now be reported after the end of a trial against a fellow former colleague.
Another former carer at St Francis home, 80-year-old James McCann, was also found to be part of cruelty and abuse at the site, however he was deemed unfit to stand trial and jurors were only asked to establish the facts of the case.
A jury founded Mr McCann had been responsible for 30 physical attacks and 12 indecent acts on boys at St Francis home. The victims are now in their 50s and 60s.
Mr McCann lives with dementia and has suffered a number of strokes, and Judge Rebecca Poulet told jurors the only course of action in such a situation was an absolute discharge.
Meanwhile the court heard how Cahill, who worked at St Francis for two years, targeted his victims in locations including the home's gym, a toilet cubicle, a dormitory and the scout hut.
He was not arrested until 2014 when one of his victims went to police and others then came forward.
One victim said: "The abuse I suffered changed me, made me feel guilty and ashamed. I have lived my life in fear of people finding out what happened to me."
Senior investigating officer at Bedfordshire Mark Ross said: "McCann and Cahill were incredibly cruel, abusing the very children they had a duty of care to protect and look after."
St Francis home in Shefford closed in 1974.