Proposed paedophile legislation thwarted, Government to introduce own fix
The State Government has thwarted an Opposition attempt to introduce legislation that would ban paedophiles from serving jail terms at home. The government said it would introduce its own Bill on the matter instead.
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The State Government has thwarted an attempt to introduce legislation into Parliament that would ban convicted paedophiles from serving jail terms at home.
The Opposition’s proposed legislation, announced yesterday, was quashed before it was even debated with the government instead indicating it would bring its own Bill to parliament to address deficiencies in the Sentencing Act, including home detention.
The legislation was prompted by concerns that paedophile Vivian Frederick Deboo may be sentenced to home detention after this month pleading guilty to multiple counts of indecent assault and gross indecency against two boys in the 1990s.
Deboo, 74, of Pasadena, is currently on bail and will be sentenced in the District Court in the coming weeks.
His lawyer has indicated she will be asking the court to sentence her client to home detention – a move opposed by prosecutors.
While pushing his case to introduce Labor’s legislation, Opposition leader Peter Malinauskas said the government needed to act immediately to stop the possibility of Deboo, and other paedophiles, from being released on home detention.
“This parliament needs to acknowledge that there is an immediate concern that needs to be addressed,” he said.
“There is not a time to waste. There is only an opportunity to act. There is an opportunity to (act), let’s grab it.”
Mr Malinauskas asked that parliament allowed the bill to be introduced so it could be debated.
However, Attorney-General Vickie Chapman said the government would not support the mooted legislation.
“It’s clear to us that this is just another political stunt of the leader of the Opposition,” she said.
After vigorous debate on the merits of being allowed to introduce the legislation, permission was voted down.
In a statement released on Tuesday morning, Ms Chapman described Labor’s bill as a “flimsy band-aid fix to a much larger problem with sentencing in SA”.
“Paedophiles and serious sexual offenders do not belong on our streets, as we have continually stated, and the Government will work with the entire Parliament to fix Labor’s home detention mess,” she said.
“To fix the deficiencies in Labor’s home detention legislation, the Marshall Liberal Government will return to Parliament with a well-prepared piece of legislation which deals with the far-reaching problems within the Sentencing Act, in line with victims’ expectations expressed this morning.
“Paedophiles and serious sexual offenders do not belong on our streets, as we have continually stated, and the Government will work with the entire Parliament to fix Labor’s home detention mess.”
Ms Chapman said the “safety of South Australians, particularly children, and the welfare of victims are our highest priorities for sentencing reform”.