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New Watch On Our Worst Sex Offenders VICTORIA'S worst child sex offenders are being short-listed for up to 15 years of close scrutiny when they are released from jail. A tough new monitoring law designed for the feared pedophile Mr Baldy may be used against the state's "dirtiest dozen" child sex offenders. Corrections officers have been ordered to review the files of all sex offenders in jail and produce a list of high-risk pedophiles thought likely to reoffend when released. Investigations of about a dozen of the highest-risk cases would include psychological reports and assessments of their criminal and prison histories and previous parole behaviour, a prison source told the Herald Sun. Corrections Minister Tim Holding confirmed yesterday that a list was being compiled. "The Department of Justice is preparing a hit list of serious sex offenders it intends to target with these laws," he said. "The Government is doing everything it can to ensure the Victorian community is protected from these sorts of people." He said the list was not yet complete and the Government would not be releasing the names of the prisoners on it for legal reasons. The Serious Sex Offenders Monitoring Act became law last month. The new law provides County or Supreme Court judges with the power to impose strict conditions on released prisoners after the expiry of their normal parole period. It allows the Adult Parole Board to set parole conditions that can be enforced for up to another 15 years under an extended supervision order. Monitoring and supervision requirements can include the compulsory wearing of an electronic ankle tag. Bans on any contact with children, curfews, residential and employment restrictions, random checks, reporting requirements and compulsory treatment or rehabilitation programs are among the other conditions that can be imposed. Breaches of an order carry a penalty of up to five years' jail. Before the Serious Sex Offenders Monitoring Act became law on July 1 the Adult Parole Board lost all control over paroled prisoners once their maximum sentence or "end date" was reached. The imminent release of Mr Baldy - Brian Keith Jones - prompted the State Government's urgent introduction of what became known as the "Mr Baldy Bill". Jones's maximum sentence ends tomorrow. The notorious pedophile, who was formerly known as Brendon John Megson, was released from Ararat Prison on July 13 after 14 years in jail. Jones, 58, was returned to country Victoria after being discovered living in a Housing Ministry house in Ascot Vale the day after his release. His placement in a suburban area close to primary schools, playgrounds, a kindergarten and many young families sparked community outrage and forced his immediate relocation. Jones is now living in a cottage in the grounds of Ararat Prison while new arrangements are made. More than 200 sex offenders are housed at Ararat. The media is prohibited by a suppression order from discussing any court action involving Jones. Jones, who reoffended within days of his previous release from jail in 1989 after an eight-year sentence, was nicknamed Mr Baldy during the hunt for a child abductor who shaved his victims' heads. He sexually assaulted six boys aged between four and seven during a 12-month period that terrified families throughout Melbourne in 1979 and 1980. Mr Holding said before the new law was introduced that it would be used only in exceptional circumstances. Mr Holding said then that the extended supervision law was not aimed specifically at Jones, but any serious sex offender who was assessed as posing a risk. Applications by the secretary of the Justice Department for an order under the new law have to be made to a judge of the original sentencing court. Courts can make an order only if satisfied to a high degree of probability that an offender is likely to reoffend when released. Orders can be reviewed every three years. All released serious sex offenders are already listed on a register and banned from working with children. People on the sex offenders register have to report annually to police and inform them before moving home, changing their name, buying a car or travelling interstate or overseas. They must provide employment details and memberships of clubs and other affiliations. Jones's last sentence began before Victoria introduced indefinite sentences for sex offenders. One pedophile is among the three sex offenders currently serving indefinite sentences in the state's prisons. Herald Sun (1-8-2005) Geoff Wilkinson |
All Members Of
Mr Baldy Gang Free
VICTIMS of the Mr Baldy pedophile ring fear the group will
reunite and reoffend now the four members are out of jail.
Ringleader Gordon Taylor, 46, Deborah Taylor, 44, and their former housemate, Robert Henderson, 63, have been joined back in the community by Mr Baldy, Brian Keith Jones. The four -- three of whom teamed up in prison -- inflicted sexual abuse on six children between 1988 and 1991. The mother of two victims said: "I've always said God help Victoria when they're all out." A victim said: "They're sick and they shouldn't be out." The revelation came as an exclusive Sunday Herald Sun survey found most Australians wanted the names and addresses of serial child-sex offenders made public. Jones -- named Mr Baldy because he shaved the heads of six children he abducted and sexually abused -- was jailed in 1981 for 32 years. He reoffended within weeks of his release on parole in 1989. Jones -- formerly Brendon John Megson -- was jailed again in 1992 for 14 years over attacks on children under 10. He was released on parole from Ararat prison on July 13. In 2003, Gordon Taylor was released on parole -- despite being sentenced to 23 years for pleading guilty to 88 child-sex offences. Gordon Taylor, who is still on parole, was identified as the head of the pedophile ring and described by the sentencing judge as a "depraved and wicked man" who engaged in "grossly sexually deviant" offences. Henderson's non-parole period expired in 2001. He was dealt a 12-year term after pleading guilty to 61 offences. Deborah Taylor was sentenced to three years' jail, with a minimum of two, for her role in the sex racket- she held down a child while he was raped. Gordon Taylor, Henderson and Jones met in Sale prison, where they were serving time for sex offences in the early 1980s. They fantasised about building a prison farm where they would molest the attractive children and use the others as slaves. Within weeks of his release from Sale prison in 1989, Mr Baldy began reoffending with help from his accomplices. Deborah Taylor had taken some victims-to-be to visit him in jail in the 1980s. Forensic psychologist Ian Joblin said pedophiles often sought strength in numbers. "They support each other. It legitimises their behaviour -- they think if there are two of us or more it must be all right," he said. He said history showed there was a risk the group might re-offend. The Sunday Herald Sun poll, conducted by Ipsos, found 76 per cent of women and 66 per cent of men believed they should be made aware of pedophiles living in the community. Support for the move -- 75 per cent -- was strongest among people aged 18 to 24. It was lowest -- 66 per cent -- among people aged 45 and 54. "The assumption underlying this result is that the public has low confidence in the ability to rehabilitate child-sex offenders through the criminal justice system," Ipsos general manager Randall Pearce said. Police Minister Tim Holding highlighted a range of measures, including extended supervision orders and the Sex Offenders Register, in a bid to appease public anxieties over repeat sex offenders. "The public can be reassured that every precaution is being taken to protect the community against these people," he said. He also said the Victim's Register allowed victims to find out about the offender's parole status. But the mother of one victim said that was not enough. Victims needed addresses, she said. "It's ridiculous. They know where we are because we have restraining orders, but we can't know where they are," she said. "This is an absolute outrage. Victims have no rights -- we don't even know where they are." Corrections Commissioner Kelvin Anderson said Jones was banned from interacting with other pedophiles and children under his parole conditions. "Under those conditions, he is banned from associating with his co-offenders or having any contact with any other convicted sex offender," he said. AAP (24-7-2005) Carly Crawford |
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