Notorious paedophile Dennis Ferguson was due to face trial next week for an alleged sexual assault but was granted a permanent stay of proceedings by a district court judge and set free, due to the opinion of the judge that he was so notorious that he could not hope to get a fair trial, the crown case being week and the time served in prison waiting for the case to be heard being probably more than the sentence imposed if he was found guilty. http://www.mako.org.au/ausnews74.html

So he was whisked away to an isolated property near Miles, about 350 km west of Brisbane.

Qld Premier Anna Bligh said on ABC radio;

“On the advice I have from the police commissioner, I am satisfied that he has been placed in an appropriate setting,"

“He is not in a neighbourhood, he is not next to people's houses, he is not in a community near a school."

But today the people of Miles came out in very strong protest at Ferguson’s presence in their area and demanded that he be taken elsewhere.

So what do we do with people like this? Lock them up forever? Stick them on some isolated property and prevent them from travelling even into the nearest town? Give them a new identity once they have served their time and deliberately hide their true identity from the public, and send them out into the general community?

What do the good people of OLO think about this?

Well, Ludwig, I remember you and I having this same discussion some time back and our views being very much in the minority then, and I wouldn't imagine it will be any different this time round!

"So what do we do with people like this? Lock them up forever?"

I think the general community feeling is that they should be locked up forever, or at least that's the impression you get by listening to those who make the most noise on the issue.

Part of the problem I think in this particular case is that people feel cheated out of seeing justice served. My feeling though is that the judge's decision was the correct one.

"Stick them on some isolated property and prevent them from travelling even into the nearest town? Give them a new identity once they have served their time and deliberately hide their true identity from the public, and send them out into the general community?"

I think they should live in a reasonably isolated situation. The NIMBY factor has kicked in so strongly that it's now a necessity anyway. They should be able to resume some sort of normal life though, once they've done their time, provided they're not allowed to go near schools and parks and are closely monitored, all of which was set to happen in this case. That is until the vigilante crowd reared its ugly head.

I have thought this out
It is my honestly held view.
The person who set him free is as much a threat to the community as he is.
Along with far too many who sit in judgment.
What to do?
Prison for life may not be the answer but nore is total freedom.
In this case not in my town has Merritt.

In the end he needs to be treated like Typhoid Mary.
Isolated and given something to do.
Mary got a vegetable patch on an island.
An outback cattle station would probably do.

Don't think even the extreme greenie leftie touchy feely everyone deserves a break civil liberty spruiking knobs would disagree this fella is a class 'A' piece of excrement.

No one wants him in their community, understandably. How about we move him into 'The Gap', or 'The Grange', or Indooroopilly where these judges and politicians live.....?.

Why do they end up in the lower socio-economic areas every time?.

There ABSOLUTELY NEEDS to be some law for individuals like this who appear to be totally lacking in rehabilitation.

Wasn't Nauru detention centre recently closed?. Why is it we have camps for refugees who haven't really done anything but queue jump, but extreme proven threats and recent offenders get released becuase no one can judge them fairly.....?. Bizarre.

This is a difficult question. Nearly every suggested solution creates more problems.

Jailing sex offenders for life (the maximum penalty one can receive for any crime in Australia) may result in child molesters killing their victims. If the death penalty were in force, this would cause the same problems.

Castrating offenders (either physically or chemically) won't acheive results as in most cases the perpetrator of the crime gets their satisfaction from the suffering endured by the victim, and enjoys the power they are able to influence over the child, rather than satisfying a sexual urge.

Continual harrasment of offenders by vigilantes will make it difficult for those who want help and want to change their ways.

Bashings in jail will make offenders want to take their revenge on other children when released from jail.