Paedophile Gavin Shaun Schuster withdraws freedom bid after tough laws introduced

Serial sex predator Gavin Shaun Schuster – who has offended since the age of 12 and been in jail the past 18 years – has abandoned his bid for freedom.

Court sketch of Gavin Shaun Schuster. Artist: Tim Ide

Serial sex predator Gavin Shaun Schuster – who has offended since the age of 12 and been in jail the past 18 years – has abandoned his bid for freedom.

On Friday, the 41-year-old paedophile withdrew his application for release on licence in the Supreme Court.

Attorney-General Vicki Chapman said her government had introduced tough new laws that “better protect the community”.

“The community can rest assured that we have tough laws in place that better protect the community from serious sexual offenders” she posted on social media.

In September, Chief Justice Chris Kourakis was told Schuster, 41, would give evidence at a hearing to prove he had been rehabilitated as he asked the court to reconsider his release on licence.

Schuster has offended since the age of 12 and has been in prison since 2000.

He secured release on licence in 2016, despite a judge conceding Schuster would “always” be a risk but “nothing is perfect in this world”.

But the decision sparked community outrage and exposed inadequacies in the Sentencing Act’s provisions regarding the release of uncontrollable sex predators.

It also prompted a DPP appeal, which argued Schuster could easily climb the fence of, then walk or run away from, the Kilburn facility due to house him.

Four months after it was issued, the release order was set aside by the Full Court of the Court of Criminal Appeal – which said the application should be re-heard.

In June this year, the Act was amended following a campaign by The Advertiser, Carly Ryan Foundation and a child abuse survivor known as “XX”.

The successful campaign was sparked by a court order that predator Colin Charles Humphrys, who kidnapped XX when he was 9, be released to live in the Bowden-Brompton area.

In a rare bipartisan move, both sides of politics agreed to toughen the laws so predators must prove they have rehabilitated before they can be considered for release.

That proof must come from three medical health experts, all of whom must agree the offender is willing and capable of exercising self-control.

They also granted the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions power to seek to have release orders revoked.

In September, the Supreme Court heard prosecutors believed Schuster’s latest bid for freedom must be considered under those tough new laws.