Serial Sex Offenders

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD (15:13): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking questions of the Attorney-General regarding serial sex offenders in South Australia.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD: After attempting to rape a 65-year-old woman in her Port Augusta home in 2002, Jacob Arthur Wichen was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2005, but in 2011 was declared incapable of controlling his sexual instincts and was detained indefinitely. The recidivist sex offender will now likely be released on licence later this month, further to a High Court victory that overturned a Court of Appeal decision that upheld a Supreme Court decision not to release Wichen due to the fear he could not control his sexual instincts.

Parole Board SA chair, Frances Nelson, indicated the board was of the opinion that Wichen still represented a significant risk to the community. In reference to finalising the stringent conditions under which Wichen would be released, Ms Nelson stated:

We would recommend more conditions, but ultimately it is a matter for the court…There seems to be an expectation we can place (Wichen) somewhere he will have 24-hour supervision and that is not possible. We do not have those resources in the community…I will be speaking to community corrections to see what resources we do have and then try to recommend conditions that can actually be policed and carried out.

I am also aware of a convicted serial child sex offender, Darryl Martin Hore, who has won his appeal to the High Court as well to be considered for release on licence, a man who has previously declared that he was actually unwilling to control his sexual instincts. My questions to the Attorney-General are:

1. Is the Attorney concerned that Wichen will be released when the Parole Board still considers him to be a significant threat to the community?

2. What additional resources will the state government provide to ensure Wichen and other recidivist offenders are adequately monitored in the event that they are released from prison but are still considered to be a threat?

3. Is the Attorney-General satisfied that necessary conditions for release on licence will be applied in each case and, if so, how, when the Parole Board isn't?

4. What other measures is the state government undertaking to ensure the community is protected from serial sex offenders?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (15:15): I thank the honourable member for his question and his regular and significant interest in the safety of the South Australian community. Rather than answer individual questions I can give a general answer. I am aware of the media attention—and I think it was in the newspapers over the weekend—about the Wichen matter, following on from the High Court decision and then the Supreme Court decision in the Wichen matter.

I am confident that the Parole Board has the experience and the tools to impose exceptionally strict conditions that will make the community as safe as possible in the circumstances in which Wichen will be released. I know that the Parole Board is very experienced in a lot of these matters and, as I said, I am confident that they will impose the conditions as strictly as possible to make the community as safe as possible and, also, if there are breaches, to ensure that the appropriate action is taken, including the possibility of returning this individual to prison.

We do take sex offenders and serial sex offenders exceptionally seriously. We have a number of electoral commitments, some of those have already been implemented and there are more that will be rolled out over the coming months in relation to making sure that serial sex offenders, particularly child sex offenders, spend longer in jail.