Home
About MAKO
Services
Contact
Prevention
MAKO/Files
Community Notification
Report
Referral
Profile's
Facts/ Stats
Online Dangers
Child Safety
MAKO Petitions
Research/ Resources
Books
DNA Info
Safety For Women
News/ Articles
Your Comments
Australian Politicians/ Contacts
Join
Sponsors
Donations
Links
|
NSW will no longer accept pedophiles from other states for parole, Premier Morris Iemma says. Mr Iemma said he would ask his West Australian counterpart Geoff Gallop to assist in extraditing convicted pedophile Otto Seamus Darcy-Searle back to WA. Darcy-Searle is currently living at Banora Point, on the NSW-Queensland border, after being paroled in WA five years into an 11-year sentence for child sex offences. Mr Iemma said the government also would conduct a review of all current interstate offenders on parole in NSW. "NSW will not be the dumping ground for convicted paedophiles and high risk offenders from other states," Mr Iemma said in a statement. "The current informal arrangements between states are not working." Mr Iemma refused to say if former justice minister John Hatzistergos had been aware Darcy-Searle was being paroled in NSW. The NSW corrective services commissioner would be made personally responsible for assessing all future requests from other jurisdictions for offenders to be paroled in the state, Mr Iemma said. In this case, the Murwillumbah corrective services office had failed to inform either the commissioner or the deputy commissioner that Darcy-Searle was to be paroled in the area, he said. "We're tightening up this to ensure that the commissioner himself is the person that receives formal requests for these types of transfers, " Mr Iemma told reporters. AAP (16-8-2005) |
|
CHURCH friends in Perth are trying to find a suitable home for convicted pedophile Otto Darcy-Searle, his family said yesterday. Following his forced return from northern NSW, Darcy-Searle faces serving another two years in jail unless he can meet strict parole conditions. His brother-in-law told The Sunday Telegraph that Darcy-Searle, a born-again Christian, was willing to be chemically castrated to ensure he was safe to return to the community. "We think what has happened is not fair and there are many aspects that people don't know about," his brother-in-law said, asking not to be identified. "He is full of remorse and would not have been released if there was any possibility he would reoffend. He underwent full psychological testing." Darcy-Searle, who had served five years of his sentence, was looking for work and had interviews for jobs lined up last week. His family said he was paroled to stay on the other side of the country with his sister and her husband because they were his only options. His parents were dead and his daughters had children so he could not stay with them. "We were thoroughly checked out to ensure we were a safe and secure place," his brother-in-law said. "Everything was done properly and it was wrong for the NSW Government to look for scapegoats." The Sunday Telegraph (21-8-2005) |
|
Pedophile Arrives Back In WA CONVICTED pedophile Otto Darcy-Searle has touched down in Western Australia and been whisked away from awaiting media, ahead of a parole board hearing to decide his long-term future. At 11.55am (WST), the 63-year-old disembarked from a scheduled Qantas flight from Brisbane, a jacket covering his head, to be met by WA government officials. Darcy-Searle bypassed the domestic terminal at Perth airport, and was driven off the tarmac in an unmarked grey sedan, accompanied by a second vehicle carrying officers from the WA Protective Services unit. Ian Flynn, from New South Wales Protective Services, who accompanied Mr Darcy-Searle on the flight, said he understood the convicted pedophile was now in the custody of the WA justice department. "I am not sure where he is (going)," Mr Flynn said. In 2000, Darcy-Searle was sentenced to a total of 424 years in prison for 104 pedophile-related convictions against children aged between 10 and 12. With each sentence to be served concurrently, his prison time was reduced to 11 years. Following public outrage that he was allowed to move to the northern NSW town of Banora Point, near Tweed Heads, to live with his family the NSW Government said it wanted WA to take him back. But a row erupted over who approved his interstate relocation after serving less than half his sentence, and revelations that a WA report recommended he not be paroled at all. Yesterday, two NSW parole officers were stood down ahead of investigations into their alleged failure to pass on to their superiors a WA document outlining Darcy-Searle's history. His fate will now be decided by the WA parole board, which is meeting today. WA Justice Minister John D'Orazio and Attorney-General Jim McGinty are both due to hold press conferences later today. AAP (18-8-2005) |
|
Paedophile Returns To WA CONVICTED paedophile Otto Darcy-Searle has left the far NSW north coast to return to Western Australia, the Department of Corrective Services says. Darcy-Searle has been living with relatives at Banora Point, on the NSW-Queensland border, since he was paroled in July after serving five years of an 11-year sentence for child sex offences. The decision by West Australian authorities to allow Darcy-Searle to serve parole in the small town created a political storm in NSW. NSW Corrective Services announced Darcy-Searle would return to Western Australia today in the best interests of his family. He was accompanied this morning by a senior NSW department officer and will be met in Perth by WA justice officers. "The NSW Department of Corrective Services supervised the departure and the offender was accompanied by a senior department officer," a Corrective Services statement said. AAP (18-8-2005) |
|
Paedophile Sent Packing CONVICTED paedophile Otto Darcy-Searle was expected to be escorted onto a flight back to Western Australia today, but not before the NSW Government was accused of scapegoating its public servants to cover its own failures. The move follows a last-ditch attempt by Darcy-Searle to remain in the state, with the convicted child sex offender claiming he was a changed man who was sorry for his crimes. Darcy-Searle relocated to Banora Point, on the North Coast, on July 8 – two days after he was released on parole from WA, where he served five years for 104 child sex offences. The 63-year-old has since lived among young families with his sister and her husband at the couple's lavish seaside house in Pacific Drive, just a four-minute walk from Banora Point Primary School. Angry residents yesterday posted signs saying: "Warning!!! Paedophile in this area!" But in a statement sent to A Current Affair, Darcy-Searle pleaded for acceptance and promised not to repeat his crimes. "There are no words to express my remorse for the terrible trauma that I inflicted on the vulnerable victims of my offending behaviour, as well as on my own wife and children through my abandonment," he said. "I know that I can never expect the victims of my past offending to forgive me for the wrong I did, nor can I expect the community to trust me. One thing I am certain of – I have hurt others enough." Darcy-Searle's presence in Banora Point has caused unprecedented anxiety among the town's residents. In the past week many parents have refused to let their children outside alone, while local schools have locked their gates. Announcing Darcy-Searle's return yesterday, Justice Minister Tony Kelly said two staff members from the Murwillumbah Parole Office, which approved the transfer, had been stood down. But, in a rare attack on a fellow Labor minister, WA Attorney General Jim McGinty virtually accused Mr Kelly of cowardice. He said NSW had reneged on an agreement, "made in good faith", to take Darcy-Searle. "I am not familiar to all the background to it, but I don't believe in shooting public servants to cover ministerial misadventure," he said. Mr Kelly refused to apologise to locals, who said the removal had come just in time. "If he stayed much longer it would have got physical," said local father Nathan Joyce. "You wouldn't have wanted it to come to that, but if he didn't leave quickly the local community would have had to have thrown him out." AAP (18-8-2005) Josh Massoud/ Mark Scala |
|
Pedophile 'Should Not Have Been Released' THE convicted West Australian pedophile paroled to New South Wales should not have been released from prison, the WA Justice Department recommended before he moved interstate. A line within a 20 page-document detailing the history of Otto Seamus Darcy-Searle, 62, sent by WA to NSW authorities in May, is said to read: "At the present point in time, the author of this report is unable to support Darcy-Searle's release on parole given the serious nature of the offence". WA Attorney-General said during questioning today that he was unaware of the recommendation. "That's complete news to me – that is not the information I have received," Mr McGinty said before saying he would check the background of the recommendation. Darcy-Searle is preparing to return to WA after agreeing to leave his parents' home in Banora Point, northern NSW, where he has been living since July. He was expected to arrive in WA in a matter of days, and his immediate fate would be decided by the parole board, Mr McGinty said. "He will either return to prison, while the parole board gives consideration for their options or whether there is a viable parole plan, or if there is a viable parole plan in place it may be that he is not returned to prison," Mr McGinty said. Mr McGinty meanwhile said the two NSW corrective services officers suspended over the affair had been made scapegoats for a high-level NSW Government blunder over the parole arrangements for Darcy-Searle. He criticised his NSW Labor counterparts, saying the suspension of the parole officers was designed to deflect attention from "ministerial misadventure". Mr McGinty said NSW had reneged on an agreement to take Darcy-Searle, which had been made "in good faith". "I am not familiar to all of the background to it, but I don't believe in shooting public servants to cover ministerial misadventure," Mr McGinty said. "NSW have reneged on an undertaking and jeopardised cooperative agreements that have worked very well in the interests of the entire Australian community for a very long period of time. "I think the arrangement entered into in respect of Darcy-Searle, in placing him with his family in a strong supportive environment linking in with the local church, was the best possible arrangement to ensure the chances of re-offending were minimal." In April 2000, Darcy-Searle was jailed for 11 years after pleading guilty to 104 counts against four boys between 10 and 12 years old. The boys were members of a football club coached by Darcy-Searle. AAP/ news.com.au (17-8-2005) |
|
Residents Rally To Oust Pedophile OUTRAGED residents at Tweed Heads yesterday made it clear that notorious pedophile Otto Seamus Darcy-Searle was not welcome in their neighbourhood. "Send him back" and "Keep Our Kids Safe" read the placards as concerned families gathered to protest against the release of Darcy-Searle from a West Australian jail into their community. It was revealed on the weekend that for the past five weeks the paroled 63-year-old has been living "secretly" with relatives at suburban Banora Point – a haven for young families and retirees. He was released on parole after serving only five years for more than 100 child sex offences. The offences involved the abuse of four soccer players aged 10-12 from 1978 to 1982. "As far as I'm concerned, if he's served only five out of 11 years I don't think he's been rehabilitated," said mother-of-three Tonia McLeod. "If he has, why did they kick him out of WA?" Luisa Marchant, a local childcare centre operator, said there were six childcare centres within a 2km radius and four schools in the area. Acting Inspector Linda Harrison, of Tweed Heads police, told yesterday's gathering that Darcy-Searle was being "closely monitored" and was not having any contact with children. AAP (16-8-2005) |
|
Tweed Lures Pedophile A NOTORIOUS pedophile recently released from a Perth jail is living at Banora Point, near Tweed Heads. NSW police yesterday attempted to reassure the public after the whereabouts of Otto Seamus Darcy-Searle were revealed. Darcy-Searle, who is living with relatives, was released after serving just five years for abusing four junior soccer players, aged 10 to 12, from 1978 to 1982. The commander of the NSW Police Child Protection and Sex Crimes Squad yesterday said police kept a close eye on all sex offenders living in the community. Detective Superintendent Kim McKay said police were able to use the NSW Child Protection Register, established in 2000, to keep track of 1900 offenders on the list. "The Child Protection Register allows for police to monitor registered sex offenders," he said. "By law (offenders) have to tell police where they live, what cars they'll be driving, and what their registered employment is going to be. "Police do a thorough risk assessment of registered persons. If these people become high-risk registered offenders, they'll implement close monitoring strategies. "This could involve close supervision and sometimes covert surveillance." Police would prosecute convicted sex offenders if they detected breaches in reporting conditions, Det Supt McKay said. West Australian Child Protection Squad head Martin Voyez has said he feared Darcy-Searle would re-offend. Queensland Newspapers (15-8-2005) |
|
Plan To Remove Peadophile THE New South Wales Government has taken steps to force a convicted pedophile to return to Western Australia after it was revealed he was serving his parole in a small town in the NSW far north. NSW Justice Minister Tony Kelly said his department would investigate the removal of Otto Seamus Darcy-Searle, 63, who was granted parole last month after serving just five years of an 11-year sentence in a Perth jail. He is living with his parents in Banora Point, near the Queensland border. Darcy-Searle was jailed for a total of 424 years for abusing four members of a junior soccer team, aged between 10 and 12, from 1978 to 1982. But the sentences were to be served concurrently, meaning he would only spend a maximum of 11 years behind bars. Police and the NSW Government yesterday sought to reassure a fearful public that Darcy-Searle's movements were being monitored to ensure he did not prey on other children. But today, Mr Kelly announced he had taken steps to return Darcy-Searle back to Western Australia. "NSW Corrective Services Commissioner Ron Woodham this morning faxed his counterparts in Western Australia, saying he was not satisfied with the placement in northern NSW of Darcy-Searle," Mr Kelly said. "Commissioner Woodham has told the Western Australians that NSW will only supervise Darcy-Searle until they re-consider his situation and settle him outside of NSW. Mr Kelly said Darcy-Searle would continue to be strictly monitored while in NSW. "I am hopeful this situation will be resolved to as soon as possible," he said. AAP (15-8-2005) |
Australian News
WANTED OFFENDERS
Safety For Women
Report Sex Crime
Victim Assistance/Referral
Community Notification
2010. All Rights Reserved.
Legal/Disclaimer/
Privacy/
Terms Of Use.