Convicted murderer and rapist Jonathon Peter Bakewell shielded by Correction Department after being released on parole
Corrections officers have shielded a convicted rapist and murderer as he was freed from prison to keep him safe from identification.
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A convicted rapist and killer was shielded from public view by corrections staff and a decoy used to protect his identity, sparking outrage from the victim’s sister and the department’s own minister.
Corrections Department officers put a decoy in the back of a car this morning in an attempt to prevent media identifying Jonathon Peter Bakewell who served almost 30 years for the rape and murder of Anne-Marie Culleton in 1988.
However, the real killer was escorted from the prison a short time later.
A Corrections Department spokeswoman defended the move as an “operational contingency”.
“Given the high public interest and high notoriety attached to this release additional safety and security measures were put in place by the operational team,” she said.
“ This included a second vehicle being deployed to reduce the likelihood of correctional staff being followed by media and or other members of the public.”
Corrections Minister Corey Wingard said a different strategy to remove Bakewell could have been used. He also said he did not support the decision of the Parole Board to release Bakewell who breached parole four times in 2016.
“No family should have to go through the pain that Anne-Marie Culleton’s family is undoubtedly feeling today,” Mr Wingard said.
Ms Culleton’s sister Eileen said that women of South Australia have the right to know what Bakewell looks like.
“Community safety should be the number one priority of the government and it absolutely isn’t,” she said.
“Bakewell took drugs the night he raped and murdered my sister, I am horrified that I have to fight to warn the women of South Australia that tonight they are not safe in their beds.”