Apart from your mis spelling of the word paedophile, I have only one comment.

Why should these rock spiders live at all? I say put them down once they are convicted. There is no greater offence than abusing children, sexually or otherwise. Why? Because it ruins their entire lives, their families and frequently creates more of these dreadful.....well I can't call them humans, whatever they ares.

These creatures are cowards and sick. Hang 'em, publicly please. A reality show that would rate through the roof.

margaret

what a *good* article. would that anyone in government and the justice system could read it, and truly reflect upon it. far from 'only' (sic) a 'private interest', clearly you have/represent a public interest. the public interest in this case is far more than expressed in the decision: it does not lie alone with the department, etc. this notion of 'public interest' sees public interest as one-sided rather than multidimensional.

ironically, the department itself by its guidelines (whether honoured in the breach or not) recognises a public interest in what has been characterised as your private interest. that is, it acknowledges that an 'environmental investigation/survey' needs to be done. once it accepts this need, then it is accepting that there lies a public interest in ensuring that children (yours and any others) are not at risk through the placement of a person (in respect of whose living place such investigation/survey is done) in the vicinity of young children.

on freedom of information - in addition to what you have so clearly and succinctly said, freedom of information, like the role of the ombudsman and other regulation/checks of government action, has become more and more limited through privatisation.

in nsw, when junee prison was privatised, the ombudsman was refused entry on the basis that it was a private operation and hence not subject to the ombudman/ombudsman act. similarly with freedom of information - it no longer applies to so many activities, agencies, bodies etc to which it originally applied (however limited its application there), for these have been privatised and so taken out from under public scrutiny.

we never ever could rely upon liberal/coalition governments for the promotion and defence of human rights and civil liberties. sadly, now that labour governments have lost their way in respect (disrespect) of civil and human rights we have no or few to turn to, or to rely upon to promote them.

There are those who would argue that these people have served their sentences therefore should be given all the rights of the rest of the community.
But in doing so,will rob children of their rights to grow up safe and unmolested.
Far better to have somewhere isolated ,away from all families, where these unnatural ,mentally unsound people can live without being tempted and small people will not come in the vicinity of such predtors.
Either that or put them down.

Repeat child sex offenders should have the choice of either being castrated or remain in prison for life. Unfortunaetly with the ACT and other porn industries flourishing we are seeing more and more men and women fulfilling their sexual desire on children. Some of the porn industries best customers are the aboriginal communities where many girls are very fortunate to get to their teenage years without being abused. Still the selfish adults will still demand their rights to fulfil their lusts watch others have sex despite the consequences on children and society.

Many things I dislike immensly only I thing I absolutely hate, and that is the abuse of children in any way especially sexually, I speak from my own experience and the experience of a female friend. I don't believe in capital punishment why should these monsters get it so easy.

The survivors have to live their lives with the memory of these attacks, so should the perpertrator. A community of them should be established at Marilinga without cars or petrol and let them live their lives out knowing why they are there.

In some ways you should be grateful that you know about the past of the freak that lives beside you.
Our ultimate job as parents is to make sure our most precious posessions are never scarred by human waste such as this.
I know of one such creep that nobody would ever suspect, who lives as an innocent in freedom, a product of the sixties "What-goes-on-behind-a man's-closed-door" creed.
People I meet still talk about these atrocities to this day but nothing was ever done to stop or punish this animal.
He was my father and I was one of his victims.
Yes, I am 50 and I still hurt.
Be vigilant and never ever let history repeat.

Goddess,
How true your post rings. I am 51 and have been molested by a man and raped by a young woman in my youth. I protect my daughter as much as is humanly possible. I think one solution is to enroll young girls in self defence classes although it will only help a small percentage if one is saved from the torment it's worth it.

Thankyou for this exposé on your attempts to find the backgound to this disturbing situation.
Maybe a better title for the article would be "Can I get Justice with the the Dept. of Justice?"
We do get the Public Service we deserve.
If the population is apathetic then "they" can do things fairly pathetically.

Most of the population (like myself) would be unaware of the Adult Parole Board's status when it comes to finding the background to it's decisions. The Parole Board do have an onerous, unenviable and reponsible job to do.
Sometimes, the public need to know what information they(Adult Parole Board) were fed prior to making a decision.

Persons with this disturbing criminal history need to be protected from themselves.
More importantly, "we" need to be protected from them.
Justice not only needs to be done but it needs to be seen to be done.
If we haven't got a facility to house these people (compassionately) at the end of their sentence, then we need one where they cannot reproduce their offending behaviour.
Sorry, but after such horrific acts on innocent people, these offenders must surrender their rights to live amongst us.

I wonder how the Justice department's representative (Delphine) would like this person living next to him on his release?

Rehabilitation of sexual offenders, or any offenders for that matter, is a fraught issue. Capital punishment is one response. In a perfect world that would be the best solution :-) No more car thieves, embezzlers, pedophiles etc, after their conviction. Trouble is that can't be sufficiently confident of our legal processes, and, if the penalties were so severe then the crims would be encouraged to be more reckless and destructive in their efforts to evade detection and capture.
I am for castration, life imprisonment, hanging etc. But I worry a bit about getting it wrong here and there.
I think we really need a major review of our criminal law systems. victime impact statements? Do they get enough weight? I wonder if the punishment/public safety denoument of a criminal case should be determined by a calculation of the harm caused by an offence. For example, a pretty minor burglary in which someone breaks in and pinches a $500 dollar TV ($50 down at the pub). But the real consequence is that the elderly couple now live in terror for the next years of their lives! Off with his head. A pedophile who molests a few kids, and in process seriously disturbs the normal development of several people! Off with his head. Reckon the costs to people and society and risk chopping off a few heads I say. Not seriously. But it worries me a lot.
Fencepost.

In the early 60's I met a cousin who liked to wear his mothers' clothes. He was a couple of years younger than me and we-all, regarded his behaviour as weird but essentially harmless. After a short time, his family moved to another rural town and I lost touch until 20-odd years later when I met his mother.
"John" had continued his predilection whilst his parents hoped he would grow out of it. One day he was spotted in drag by a school "mate" with blindingly obvious results. "John" was reviled at school, beaten, spat upon, made to walk home naked on one occasion, and was more or less continually and colloqually shat upon - as was the attitude towards Queers in the late 60's. His parents separated. "John", who had failed year 10 exams, fled to Sydney and gravitated to the Oxford St scene where he was accepted. But he was caught in bed with a boy of nine and was dobbed in, by another "mate". "John" got five years and whilst in prison received the type of treatment from inmates and staff that beggars imagination. He was eventually let loose on the community.
Three years ago I met "John" and the agony associated with that man was indescribeable. Every line on his face, every tremor in his voice screamed out for help and understanding. Society punished John from the late 60"s and continued to punish him then. He had more suffering in the mind than there are words available to describe it. He led a life already removed from the living.
I spoke to him as gently as my stupid male mind could and it must have had an effect because "John" went home and gassed himself in his flat that evening. In his note he quoted that "at last a friendly voice, I can go now."
Yeah, Mr Baldy is a prick and deserves a lot less than his free ride, but don't you dare lump him in with "John" or follow me with the kind of flippant statement occasionally noticed among posts. Apply compassion.

There must be some just way of dealing with this sub-human detritus.
Public naming and shaming, forcing them to conduct unpleasant community service, putting them on the electronic media to publicly face up to what they have done.
Life is too easy for them after they have left innocent lives shredded beyond repair.
I know there is help out there for we victims. I have sought and utilised it but there are some wounds that can never heal.
I am the person I am today because of the stony track I have trodden but revenge would be a nice cure for some of those painful wounds.

enkew
"John" did a good thing for society, a peodaphile is a peodaphile, did you think about the "boy" he was caught in bed with, no I thought not.

Shonga - If you really mean what you express in your posts then you are indeed fated, and I really empathise.
My original post was over 500 words in an attempt to personalise it but I had to edit it savagely down to the allowable limit. My point was either lost or diluted so, in a nutshell, here it is. "John" did a filthy thing and he was punished mentally and physically for it relentlessly and continually for over thirty five years. Now he's released. Are you glad his suffering is gone? Can you put your personal experiences aside for a second or two and try to imagine my plight? I saw the results of this punishment and my kindness killed him. I pulled the trigger. I sprung the trap. I got over it, you must.
I will post no more on this matter.

Is this really an increasing problem, are there more an more paedophiles preying on our children? Perhaps not. After all its certainly a sickness that has been in Australian society for a long long time, and in many old civilisations if you read the right texts.

So what can be done? Perhaps the best approach to take is to prepare our kids for a world where not everything is safe and stable. Make them a little more fierce and self-reliant. This by no means is a complete protection, but the simple teaching of stranger danger is a good start (hardly hear about it any more). Then good sex education at home from an appropriate age - what it is, who its done by (adults) and that its wrong if anyone tries to do this to a kid. Rather than trying to shield our kids constantly, we should be giving them tools with which to shield themselves.

Perhaps too if as a society we would be less hard on those close to a charged or convicted paedophile, then there wouldnt be such an issue with naming them. But most of them are married or have been, they have friends, parents etc. If it were only the offenders themselves that would be in the firing line of public opinion once released, then having public information about where they are would not be such a concern.

Enkew - although you say you are over it your emotive language, the fact that you laboured over your post so much and the tone you employ suggests otherwise.

I am sure you have been told repeatedly that you did not kill "John":- yet you still don't seem to believe it.

In an earlier paragraph you said "He led a life already removed from the living". Which of course is the key. "John" was already dead: killed by the cruelty of society; his own actions and decisions and the anguish these caused. There is no guilt for you in being the compassionate one who closed his eyes for him.

His words were grateful thanks, to be taken at face-value, I should think. Had he realised they would transfer some of his anguish onto you perhaps he would not have written them.

In terms of black and white "Johns" death rid the world of an evil presence. In the multitudinous shades of grey that exist between those two stark points it ended decades of pain and unimaginable horror. Whichever way it is viewed, however, "John's" death was caused by "John".

I have been brought back twice from that release and have been involved with countless others who have attempted or were considering it also.

So one thing I know with certainty is that no-one is responsible for our actions but ourselves.

You neither killed him with your kindness, pulled a trigger, nor sprang a trap. All your words did was to ensure that when he finally fulfilled his own destiny he carried one spark of goodness over with him.

Rest easy, mate. It's over.

I wish I could find it in me to feel some sort of human compassion for the "Johns" of this world but I simply cannot.
What he and other paedophiles of this society is wrong and is unforgivable.
Solve the problem once and for all.
Create a one-purpose prison in the middle of the Simpson desert, lock them all up and throw away the key.

enkew
My comment was not a critisism of your kindness and compassion in fact I comend you for that. I agree with Goddess that a prison of sorts should be built to humanely house these people together away from society.

Young lives can not be rebuilt after they have faced this trauma, and no matter how repentent the peadophile is it is something they are unable to control, so for the safety of society in general they must be seperated from the rest of us.

I have suggested an alternative to sterotype prison in an earlier post, I stand by that suggestion.