What we're talking about

Troy on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' I have seen this family fighting day after day for months trying to get their kids/siblings back home. The dedication and ... more
Pauline on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' DHS have destroyed my own family. They failed in their duty of care to provide a baby moniter for the deaf , thousands of ... more
Christine on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' isn't it funny how DHS don't recognise the psychological effects of domestic violence on children and continue to allow ... more
Warrior princess on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' There is a family In the Cairns Area who are Foster Carers.Atherton Child Safety have threatened the carers and own ... more
duncan on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' i have spent time with this family. it is a house full of love. "mum", grandfather and older sblings.this cannot be an issue ... more
Tracey on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' Family Law is different from the rest of the law in this country.. Ie. Family Law is based on probability: ie if it might ... more
carol annetta on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' having known this family for some time i am disgusted with the treatment she has received. it seems more of a witch hunt ... more
Maureen Hillary on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' Derryn,I have counselled traumatized parents as a result of DHS staff.There are great staff workers who care but they ... more
Janet Tavener on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' I am a visitor to this country.My attention was drawn to the case of these children and their foster mother by a relative of ... more
sam on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' Happening in Tasmania also.Wewon a court case over 8 months ago and due process still hasn't been done.We spent 17,000 ... more
Anne Glover on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' I just cannot believe what the DHS has put the Foster Mother, and the children through - I thought the DHS was supposed to ... more
Tracey on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' DHS are the most disgraceful organization I have ever had the displeasure of becoming involved with. They are so ... more
Vicki on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' Hi Derryn,I have known this carer since primary school, she has always put others above herself. Being a carer myself I know ... more
Gran'ma Pam on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' As any of us with any sense know, these children should NEVER have been taken from this lady (mum) in the first place, they ... more
Dominic Lombardo on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' I see my daughter every six months DHS are conducting a vendetta against me I have not been told why I can only see her ... more
cassy houghton on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' Hello Derryn,Firstly i would like to thankyou for your support and the willingness to help this beautiful family.I ... more
Warrior princess on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' Im a carer also in Qld. I see this happen way too much from our Government. They are starting to use Carers own children as ... more
paul on "I'll pay the fee," says Hinch I believe what Liberal Party has done is stupid. But I feel for candidates like Joh Bauch and James Buonopane who want to ... more
Andrea on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' Why are these public servants allowed to blatantly flout the law without the same consequences the rest of society faces? I ... more
birth mother on Help Hinch fight DHS 'pinheads' i am the birth morther of these 4 children and i just want to say dhs dont care they just want the kids in care so they can ... more

Hinch doesn't let up on pedophiles

Posted by: Derryn Hinch | 10 August, 2010 - 12:34 AM

There was a story in the news yesterday that ties right in with why I am going to the High Court to fight against the suppression of the names and details of convicted sex offenders. Suppression orders that I do not believe are in the public interest. Are not in the community interest. And do nothing to protect you and you families. Especially your kids.

The story appeared on Page One of the Sunday Herald Sun under the headline: A Town Betrayed. Revealed - Pedophile secretly placed in community.

The story, by Liam Houlihan, describes how an intellectually disabled sex offender spent time in jail for a sickening sexual, assault on a very young child. In jail he vowed he would offend again. And he’s been caught with a memory stick with hundreds of kiddie pics on it.

After being paroled for the sexual assault he was placed in a supposedly secure centre for sex offenders while being treated for his disorder but escaped.

Now he has been secretly placed in a country town close to a school, a playground and a kindergarten.

As the newspaper report said: They were forbidden under suppression laws to name the man or publish his photo or his address. That’s what happens in this suppression happy state.

They said they were forbidden from even naming the country town. Well, judging by the swag of emails I have received in the past 24 hours the people in the town of Drouin know which town it is.

I’m already facing criminal charges so I can’t name the man, nor give any clue to where he actually lives, but listen to some of these emails from angry and concerned parents in Drouin:

‘I am extremely disturbed to discover he is so close to kinders, sporting areas, schools and our homes. I have three children and cannot believe I have to lock my doors and windows during the day in fear of this animal. He has admitted he will re-offend and has tried and succeeded to escape other facilities before. Do they really think he is rehabilitated and fit for society - then why the 24 hour guard? Obviously they do not trust him and I can see why after reading the article in the Herald-Sun yesterday.’

She then goes on to describe in detail where and how this man is living. And I won’t go into specific details. But she questions the security measures.

And this comment reflects the understandable mood of the town:

‘I cannot and will not walk past there with my children now. If he can manage to escape from the last centre then this would be a piece of cake for him. Thanks for your time and hope you can help get rid of this monster so we can feel safe letting our kids out the front to ride their bikes in our country town.’

Another one: ‘Whilst reading the paper I was dismayed that this would be allowed to happen to a community where a guy like this could move in so close to a park where children play. On turning to the main story (double spread) I nearly choked on my breakfast to see the picture of the park was actually the park near about 200-300 meters from our house in Drouin. HOW CAN THIS HAPPEN?

‘I have three young boys where only on Thursday night coming home from work did I see my 7y.o down at this park just playing by himself as he would normally be allowed to do. Yesterday on reading this story I had to tell them both that they are no longer allowed to go down to the park by themselves as there is bad people in the area.’

I know the Government will say ‘they have to be housed somewhere’ and raise the issue of ‘vigilantes’. But there has never been a vigilante attack in this country and in America thousands of sex offenders have their names, photos and addresses legally posted on websites. Why should these scumbags’ rights exceed yours?

Blog comments

*Janelle Wednesday 11 August, 2010 - 8:33 AM I agree with you. I hope you find some peace. I am also a victim that suffers ptsd and has effected my entire life. Derryn you are a legend to all sexual victims, speaking up and out for those of us that are unable to function little lone legislate. Goto to this website.
Www.mako.org.au *John Tuesday 10 August, 2010 - 9:43 YOU ARE NUTS!
Thank you Derryn. LOVE KCORY

Kcory Monday 30 August, 2010 - 12:28 AM
all i can say is why not put these disgusting creeps near the govnments home's and their kids skool let them know how we all are feeling.we are the one's who have to suffer not the law or govnment.bet if it happened to any of their kids oh oh they make sure he/they wont be allowed to walk free again.

caz Tuesday 17 August, 2010 - 8:10 PM
John; you seem to have more sympathy for these creatures than their victims. You are obviously not aware of the damage they do. I was sexually abused as a child, I live with it every day as does my husband & my child. I cringe when male relatives hug her & have to stop myself screaming at them. I will never be normal. When children are sexually abused their souls are ripped out & their whole futures are destroyed. I wish there was vigilate attacks-then they couldn't continue to attack these poor defenceless children. THANK YOU DERRYN>

Janelle Wednesday 11 August, 2010 - 8:33 AM
Sorry is just not going to be good enough when this animal reoffends,when he carries out what he said he is going to do, just pot luck which unfortunate child ends up being his victim/s. How can anyone guarantee he is stable in the head,,not a sick individaual as he was when he previously offended. Who and can anyone actually trust this person? Maybe when someones child who made this decission ends up being a victim, then they might think twice about letting people like this assimilate in our community.

sandra phillips Tuesday 10 August, 2010 - 6:55 PM
Re: But there has never been a vigilante attack in this country". That's not quite true Derryn, you know there have been terrible murders of suspected pedophiles in fact in an interview you said yourself "Oh you could say they're vigilantes, there's a bit of a witch hunt, but yes, but in these circumstances, I can live with that. " (Source: ACA)Gareth Robinson: This is a story about a community and the secrets it held, about sex and generations of children. And it's about murder. Frank Arkell's body was found on the floor of his Wollongong home on the last Saturday in June, a badge from Rotary, the businessmen's club, embedded in one eye, tie pins stabbed into the dead man's face. Two weeks earlier a Wollongong shopkeeper had been murdered, his head cut from his body, the word 'Satan' written on a wall inside David O'Hearn's home. And seven months before, in Sydney, Trevor Parkin was killed and disembowelled. He'd served time in prison for sexual offences against minors.
Connections between the killings inspired a wave of speculation in Wollongong. In the 1990s, the city has seen a series of sexual abuse cases involving children; there's been talk of vigilantism, and a former culture of undue deference to some of the civic fathers. The repercussions of what happened in Wollongong are now being felt in a broad debate about child protection, about trust, and how the community deals with child sex offenders."

John Tuesday 10 August, 2010 - 9:43 AM