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NEW South Wales police are monitoring a record 1900 offenders on the Child Protection Register, The Sunday Telegraph has learned. State Government figures reveal the list, which tracks sex offenders, murderers and kidnappers, is growing at the rate of 40 offenders a month. Police will not give a breakdown on the areas in which the offenders reside but it is believed at least 15 live in the Tweed region, where paroled pedophile Otto Darcy-Searle was found last week. Darcy-Searle's presence at Banora Point, revealed exclusively in The Sunday Telegraph, caused an uproar among parents who yesterday demanded an overhaul of the system. Under NSW laws, anyone convicted of sexually assaulting a child must be placed on the Child Protection Register. But it is at the discretion of police whether schools and community groups are informed that an offender is residing in the area. The State Government has indicated it is reluctant to change the procedure to make this mandatory. Offenders must also report to police if they change personal details such as their home address or car registration. Penalties of up to two years' imprisonment apply for failure to notify police about a change of address. Police revealed last year that more than 80 pedophiles on the register had breached their reporting obligations, but have refused to say whether they were penalised for the breaches. Banora Point Residents Group president John Murray said community leaders should be automatically informed when an offender was paroled and allowed to live in a small town. "The system needs to be overhauled. Hard questions need to be asked about how this could happen," Mr Murray said. "There's got to be greater disclosure . . . so parents can take more care with the whereabouts of their children. "Some people said this was alarmist, but to me they're simply not in the real world. We needed to know." Brenda Cousins, the mother of two young boys, said Darcy-Searle's return to Western Australia was the right result. "I'm so glad your paper printed that story. He shouldn't have been here," Mrs Cousins told The Sunday Telegraph. State Opposition Leader John Brogden said castration, and exclusion zones where convicted offenders cannot live and work, should be adopted. Police also needed to be adequately resourced to ensure those on the register were regularly monitored, he said. "The reality is that child sex offenders have urges they cannot control," Mr Brogden said. "I also believe there should restrictions on where convicted pedophiles can live or work, including a 5km radius from where their victims live and work." The strong community reaction forced Darcy-Searle, 63, to return to jail last week. When he was relocated to the north coast town of Banora Point six weeks ago, he had served five years of an 11-year jail term for committing 104 offences against four young boys between 1978 and 1982. He will now face another 21 months in jail. A showdown is brewing between NSW Corrective Services Commissioner Ron Woodham and two departmental officers suspended for allegedly failing to follow proper procedure in allowing Darcy-Searle to move to NSW from Western Australia. The two parole officers allegedly failed to pass on an alarming report by a senior West Australian parole officer last May recommending that Darcy-Searle should not be released into the community because of fears he would reoffend. Public Service Association (PSA) representatives and Mr Woodham will meet tomorrow to discuss the officers' fate. PSA officer Kris Cruden said the union would take the case to the Industrial Relations Commission if the suspension was not lifted. Ms Cruden said the two officers, who were long-serving employees of the department, were shocked at being stood down. "They believe they have been made scapegoats," she said. The Sunday Telegraph (21-8-2005) Linda Silmalis/ Tony Vermeer |
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