Perhaps vigilantes who picket a paedophile's house are the most boisterous and these groups do appear to attract a few yobbos who declare they're going to "cut his d....k off" or "lynch the bastard."

Nevertheless one would concede that vigilante groups have grown out of public distrust of the police and criminal justice systems, though It's interesting to hear of the public support given to investor vigilantes who take the law into their own hands when pursuing corporate thugs overseas (thanks mainly to ASIC's occasional blunders.)

What appears not to be widely known, is that Dennis Ferguson committed these offences with the aid of an accomplice - Alexandria George Brookes (who also had prior convictions.) Brookes was gaoled for eleven years.

I am unable to find any reason to believe there has been any unjust decisions made in this case.

These children were held captive for three days. Included in the 19 charges against Ferguson were sodomy, indecent dealing, carnal knowledge and gross indecency.

After this ordeal the three children became wards of the state and one child became suicidal. The judge expressed his disgust over Ferguson's stand that paedophilia is an acceptable practice which he sought to institutionalise.

Upon his release, Ferguson flagrantly sought to again associate with children.

All this despite the fact that in 2005, NSW advocacy group, Justice Action offered to take Mr Ferguson in and provide mentoring and housing.

"No one here is afraid of Dennis Ferguson. We and our children welcome
him." said Brett Collins, a spokesperson for Justice Action.

So what happened Mr Collins? Did Ferguson accept your invitation?

Nevertheless he remains a recidivist criminal who has refused rehabilitation, is unrepentant and remains in denial.

Attorney General, Kerry Shine, plans to appeal the decision to throw out the new child sex charges. If successful and Ferguson is again found guilty then I believe the community would be much better protected if Ferguson (already 60 years of age) is detained at the Governor's pleasure or becomes a eunuch - albeit an involuntary one.

I find hysterical/retributive comments about this subject tedious in that instead of sensibility we get a spray of sanctimonious bile under the name of some perverted view of religion.
Then there are those who use the opportunity to empty their ‘fear laden potty’ in public by accusing (inaccurately) lefties, greenies and others as being responsible for their personal insecurities/fears.

The hypocrisy of these posters is stellar. e.g. Do these individuals get so excited about the deaths of children in Dafur and elsewhere? Do these paragons of virtue worry about child exploitation when they see a bargain in the store?

By your own standards how many “good” Christians have broken one of the more important “Commandments”? I would also note paedophilia is not one of them. However any harm to another is wrong particularly against the defenceless.

At the risk of being cliché I would suggest that fear is usually more devastating than reality, it’s all a matter of perspective. To those who believe the rigid Black/white (religious) judgements I would suggest the Bible has it right when it says
“before you to criticise your neighbour for the splinter in his eye first remove the mote in your own.”
”Don’t judge others lest ye be judged”
And then “let vengeance be mine sayeth the Lord”.
How many times has man’s “justice” proven to be wrong later? Absolutes in humans don’t exist.
If I understand Christianity correctly the premise is love of mankind and your enemy.

Just for the record I have experienced many traumas including being homosexually “pack raped” (wrong place wrong time). Therefore have the experience to knowledgeably comment. While I still have repercussions, I have gotten on with my life spending it mostly as a secular humanist therefore consistently associated with societal (volunteer) “frontline” activities.

My point here is focus on doing not abuse and secular people can be societally responsible too so let's address the real issues:
How do we stop child abuse?
How do we rehabilitate offenders (punishment alone never works)?
How do we encourage the media to less hypocritical, be more responsible?

Bronwyn “Col, you browbeat us incessantly on the virtue of individual rights and how they should always take precedence over consideration of the common good.”

“browbeat you Bronwyn?”

hardly, but now I have your attention

If you read all of my posts, instead of cheery pick the bits you do not understand, you would have read that I believe not simply in the sovereign rights of the individual but that I repeatedly acknowledge the responsibility, which attaches to those sovereign rights.

Pedophilia, corruption in public office, illegal drug peddling, all abuse the rights of being individuals by ignoring the responsibility which attaches to those rights.

As for the common good, I still do not give a rats for but I do care passionately about the individual victims of pedophilia, corrupt officials and drug dealers, whose rights and lives are trampled under foot.

“Rights, Col, rights, individual rights. I wouldn't mind a dollar for every time you've used the words 'individual' and 'rights' in the same sentence. Don't think you've done it on this thread though.”

We all know you would sooner see us all subjected to the mediocrity of your limited insight, Bronwyn than dare risk someone achieve and benefit from the sweat of their own endeavours.

You will have also seen I consistently defend your right to express your stupidity. I am doing so now but that does not mean I should be denied my right to respond and set you straight.

Back to the topic – dealing with pedophiles is hard. They do not respond to therapy and do not see or even acknowledge the evil of their ways.

As far as any real solution goes which will protect futures victims of these scum, I have yet to read a more positive suggestion than my own.

We could go down the physical castration path (the chemical system is pointlessly difficult to ensure it is adhered to) but I still think that has only limited application. Best to kill the bastards off and guarantee no re-offending

Col, at the risk of invoking your scorn I too wonder why this exception to concept that Individual right must out weigh common opinion of community good?
Clearly without individual rights being maintained ‘common good’ becomes meaningless. I also agree that with every right there must be corresponding responsibilities, including for one's own actions.
I can’t help thinking that your initial post regarding this issue appears uncharacteristically reactionary and inconsistent to comments in the abortion topic.
As I write I wonder if this post maybe perceived as deliberately intrusive but it’s a genuine with to understand the thinking behind these arguably draconian conclusions. Given that this type of response usually comes from someone with a different level of reasoning capacity than you. I wonder if there is some instructive value I missed.
I find the wording of the criticism of you unhelpful and unwarranted but each to their own capacity. (I intend no judgement only an observation.)
On the issues I wonder of the point to such an absolutist response.
Research shows that most sex crimes are a symptom of deeper issues. i.e. Rape is more about power than sex. Likewise paedophiles are most often victims themselves. It therefore makes sense to understand causes from the perspective of a source of preventing paedophiles and being able to minimise long-term harm to victims. In my case it was the GBH and those surrounding cultural attitudes that created subsequent problems not the rape as such.
Rates of recidivism and history show that deterrents and punishment only condition not correct or cure the offender. The conundrum is how to deal with them in the mean time and protect their sights. Life isn’t a set of binary Q&A.
Logically I think harming another for what is social vengeance is regressive. Only the possibility of social gain makes the hurt less meaningless and therefore more tolerable for me.

I have been reading the comments on here and I can help thinking that this is how lynch mobs start.

Mass media whips up a fire storm of controversy which induces fear in people because as they well know fear sells papers and gets people to watch the news. Public fear turns to anger and hatred is built up against a target (legitimate or not). A small group of people become disgruntled that their version of 'Justice' (usually a very violent and totally illegal version) is not being carried. The disgruntlement turns to anger as it seems that nothing is happening. And now the powder keg only needs a spark and that spark comes in the form of some idiot who thinks that taking the law into their own hands would be a good thing. Next thing you know, someone has been murdered and one or more people are up on charges for murder.

Is it going to be Dennis Ferguson, probably not there is too much media coverage for the cowards who form lynch mobs. But with the hysteria that surrounds all such cases it is inconceivable that there will not be at least one killing.

And yes, I do think that little of our society's ability to maintain the rule of law when faced with such a tempting target.

Arthur N,

If paedophiles were dealt with by the judges you would not have the 'lynch mob mentality'.Anyone not angry about innocent kids being molested are the sick cookies.