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A JAILED child sex predator will be set free tomorrow in a bureaucratic blunder that has the State Government and a senior judge arguing over who's to blame. The man, 69, who cannot be named as it would identify some of his victims, has a 30-year history of abusing children. The Government had applied to the Supreme Court to keep the convicted pedophile behind bars pending a further hearing. But although Justice George Fryberg agreed the man was a "serious danger to the community", he said the Government had taken too long to file paperwork and freed the man with only limited supervision until the next hearing on March 31. Attorney-General Rod Welford yesterday blasted Justice Fryberg's decision as "nonsensical" and said he would consider changing the law to prevent such an incident happening again. The bungle has stunned one of the man's victims, who says she is terrified he will track her down once freed from the Arthur Gorrie Correctional Centre at Wacol in Brisbane. The man, who has admitted raping young girls and boys, was first convicted in Queensland in 1979 for aggravated assault of a serious nature on a female 17. Before that, he had convictions of a sexual nature in Victoria. In 1994, he was sentenced to 16 years jail on 25 charges, including rape and indecent assault. In August last year, he pleaded guilty to six counts of incest and indecent dealing with a child, but his jail time was not extended. The man was not due for release until March 2009, but because of remissions that was brought forward to tomorrow. In his application to the Supreme Court on December 9, Mr Welford sought an interim detention order for the man, referred to as "Prisoner G". That would have kept the predator behind bars until the court considered another application for him to be placed under strict supervision after completing his jail term. Even this was not considered tough enough by police who had worked on several of the man's cases and believed he would always be a danger to children. Police wanted even stricter measures taken, urging the Attorney-General to apply for indefinite detention under the new Dangerous Prisoners (Sex Offenders) Act. But in his 15-page judgment, Justice Fryberg refused to keep the man locked up, saying there was a "very substantial unexplained delay" by the Attorney-General in bringing forward the application. He said it could have been filed four months earlier and speculated that the reason for the delay was that the Attorney-General was "not ready". "There may be a good explanation for it," Justice Fryberg said. "It may involve human fallibility, an understandable fallibility, in a bureaucratic setting. "It may be that, had an explanation been given I would . . . have been prepared to accept the explanation and make the order." Justice Fryberg said police would know where the respondent was living and could "keep an eye on him". But he also said: "I would be inclined to think that if the period were as long as two months there would be some risk to the community in letting him out." A psychologist who gave evidence also believed Prisoner G was dangerous. "(The psychologist) concluded that the respondent's assessed risk of sexual recidivism was moderate to high," the judge noted. The next hearing on the matter has been set down for March 31 – meaning two months of almost complete freedom for "Prisoner G", who is so far required to only put his name down on Queensland's new pedophile register. The Government is expected to seek stricter supervision at the hearing, similar to that imposed this month on notorious pedophile Mark Anthony Foy. The Government failed in a bid to have Foy jailed indefinitely, but the judge ordered 24 supervisory conditions over the next 10 years. These included a ban from public places containing playgrounds and from going near schools or parks. He must have no affiliation with clubs or organisations with child members. Mr Welford said the Dangerous Offenders Review Committee – made up of officials from police, corrective services and associated experts – had recommended to Crown Law that strict supervision was more appropriate for Prisoner G than indefinite detention, because of his age and deteriorating health. He denied there had been a "bureaucratic bungle" or an unreasonable delay in lodging the application for the interim detention order. Mr Welford also criticised Justice Fryberg for acknowledging that the man was a serious danger, yet using his discretionary powers to set him free on "whimsical grounds". "It is nonsensical and difficult to understand," Mr Welford said of the ruling. The Attorney-General said he would consider amending legislation to ensure that when a judge was satisfied a prisoner was a risk to the community, he must make an order to keep the prisoner behind bars pending further court proceedings. Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg said children had been placed at risk by the Government's incompetence. "This case is particularly worrying," he said. "We've now got a serious child-sex offender back on our streets, a man who has been assessed as a moderate to high risk for committing those same sort of terrible offences again." PREDATOR WILL STRIKE AGAIN, SAYS VICTIM OUTRAGE, disgust – but most of all, it's fear that consumes "Melissa". Tomorrow the predator who stole her childhood will be released from the Arthur Gorrie Correctional Centre at Wacol in Brisbane's west. Melissa has made several pleas to police to keep the serial pedophile permanently behind bars. "I fear for my life. I won't be able to stay here any more," Melissa, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, said this week. "I'll have to move. I'll have to change my name. I can't exist as myself any more, I'm that terrified. But what's worse is that he'll do it all again. "The only time he hasn't offended is when he's been in jail. "I don't want him to wreck any more lives . . . the justice system should not allow this to happen. "He should never be released. He can't keep doing this to kids, he has to be stopped and the only way to do this is to keep him in jail." Melissa was just 4 when the abuse started in her family home in Brisbane's north. The abuse continued for the next six years. The rapes included sodomy. The first time Melissa felt safe was when her attacker was sent to jail for indecent dealings with a boy under 14. Her safety was short-lived. The man referred to in court documents as "Prisoner G" was out within two years. "When he first went to jail I thought I had done something wrong," Melissa, 26, said. "I didn't know what the hell was going on, everything was just so fuzzy. But as an adult I understand now what happened – what I don't understand is our justice system. "They shouldn't let this happen to anyone else." "G" was sentenced to a further 16 years after being found guilty of 25 charges ranging from sodomy to rape and indecent dealing. "Boys, girls, he's just a predator. He's been in and out for jail for years," she said. "It's affected my sex life, certain smells trigger memories . . . I hate people touching my stomach because he used to rub my stomach as a child. "I now suffer from depression. I can't have a normal relationship. I don't want to have kids. "Just last year he pleaded guilty to more charges. What will it take for them to keep him locked up? "Do more kids have to have their lives ruined?" The Sunday Mail (30-1-2005) Darrell Giles/ Selina Steele |
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