Gavin Shaun Schuster potential freedom to be decided by SA’s highest court
RELEASING serial sex predator Gavin Shaun Schuster from prison today will spark protests, social media abuse and vigilante action as seen in other states, child protection advocates warn.
- Court releases serial sex predator to live near playgrounds at Kilburn
- Prosecutors appeal sex predators’ release
- ‘Two terrible consequences’ in case of sex predator
RELEASING serial sex predator Gavin Shaun Schuster from prison on Monday will spark protests, social media abuse and vigilante action as seen in other states, child protection advocates warn.
On Monday, the Full Court of the Court of Criminal Appeal will either ratify or reject Schuster’s bid to live in a Kilburn facility just 100m from two children’s playgrounds.
Though he will be monitored, police will take up to 30 minutes to respond if Schuster — who is an impulsive, not premeditated offender — leaves the premises.
On Sunday, Bravehearts founder Hetty Johnston warned SA would experience the same consequences of releasing a predator already endured by the eastern states and WA.
“Schuster’s whole life has been about sexual offending — nothing has stopped him, nothing ever will — and the community’s anger is not unreasonable,” she said.
“He will offend again and, when he does, we’re not talking about a car being stolen or some property damaged — we’re talking about an innocent life being destroyed.
“No one condones vigilante action and we all hope it never happens but, unfortunately, it’s understandable when a community has been pushed too far.”
Carly Ryan Foundation founder Sonya Ryan said opportunistic offenders such as Schuster “can never be rehabilitated”.
“We, as a society, should not be releasing these people ... the decision to do so was completely irresponsible and unacceptable,” she said.
“What does it say about our justice system when it’s considering the rights of a perpetrator and leaving us incapable of protecting those who can’t protect themselves?”
Kilburn parent Jodi Daniels said that, if Schuster was given his freedom, children in the area would lose theirs.
“My kids won’t be going out, they won’t even be able to come shopping with me because I don’t want him to have their faces in his memory banks,” she said.
“I don’t want him to be able to fantasise about them, and we know that’s what he does because he’s admitted that himself.
“Medication has not worked, treatment has not worked, he has no deterrent ... this is what he wants to do, and he will continue to do it.”
Since the age of 12, Schuster has befriended children, both boys and girls, and then sexually abused them when he feels “frustrated” with daily life.
Now 40, he has been indefinitely detained as an uncontrollable sex predator since 2000 save for a short period in 2008, when he was released and immediately reoffended.
Schuster’s release was ordered after doctors insisted he risked institutionalisation, with Justice John Sulan conceding he would “always” be a risk but “nothing is perfect in this world”.
The ruling came despite evidence Schuster told a fellow inmate he intended to reoffend upon release in the “easiest” suburb to do so.
Schuster’s case prompted petitions by Kilburn residents, supported by Federal MP Kate Ellis, and an appeal by prosecutors.
They argued Justice Sulan had placed “unreasonable” and “plainly unjust” emphasis on Schuster’s rehabilitation instead of public safety.
During the appeal hearing in May, Chief Justice Chris Kourakis said the court faced “two terrible consequences” regardless of its decision in the case.
He said continued imprisonment would strip Schuster of his dignity, while release potentially placed the public at great risk.
The release of paedophiles interstate has sparked controversy, violence and several deaths.
The most famous case is that of Dennis Raymond Ferguson, who took his own life after being hounded, throughout NSW and Queensland, with death threats, violence and a molotov cocktail.
Robert Knight killed himself after being released and then rearrested for possession of 10,000 images of child exploitation.
Two paedophiles in WA, Alwyn Wayne Brown and a man whose identity is suppressed, were rearrested in circumstances almost identical to Knight.
Brown has since been released again while Geoffrey Robert Dobbs, who abused 62 girls over 27 years, is seeking a new parole period on grounds similar to Schuster’s.
On Sunday, Ms Ryan said released sex offenders caused “intolerable devastation” for individuals, families and communities.
“The moment these people choose to offend against a child, their rights should be lost — let alone when they’re a repeat offender like Schuster,” she said.
“He has not, in my view, rehabilitated and is not capable of doing so — why are we exposing children to such a risk?”
Ms Johnston said the sexual abuse of a child was “every parent’s worst nightmare”.
“Communities do not want these offenders released and, when they react with anger, they’re saying they want assurances their children are safe,” she said.
“That’s not an unrealistic request — it’s what governments and judicial systems are supposed to do, but they don’t.
“This is not a normal emotional level for a community — it’s pushed to that by governments and systems that fail to protect children from predators.”
Ms Daniels said the only consequences the court should consider were those affecting innocent children.
“The community has well and truly spoken on this matter, and I hope the court has listened,” she said.
“The law says public safety is of paramount consideration — I hope the judges will follow that legislation to the letter.”
RELEASED PREDATORS ROGUES GALLERY
DENNIS RAYMOND FERGUSON
A lifelong fraudster and serial sex offender, notorious for abducting two boys and a girl in Sydney in 1987.
Following his release in 2004, Ferguson repeatedly relocated to different Queensland and NSW towns following protests, death threats, rock-throwing and the discovery of a molotov cocktail by his apartment.
He died in 2013, having discontinued his diabetes medication, prior to appearing in court for allegedly breaching restraining orders by performing charity collector work.
WA PAEDOPHILE
The offender, whose identity is suppressed, abused children between the ages of five and eight in 1997, 1998 and 2004.
He was released but arrested and convicted of possessing child exploitation material in the form of explicit, depraved stories he had started writing in prison.
The man was released in 2015 but arrested again in May this year, and is yet to face trial on possessing further exploitation material and breaching his supervision conditions.
ROBERT KEITH KNIGHT
A convicted child sex offender, Knight was released from prison in Victoria in March 2009 and began offending again just six days later.
It was subsequently revealed he had been drawing “concerning” pictures of children just prior to his release.
Knight was rearrested for possessing 10,000 images of child exploitation material on his computer but killed himself in jail before facing court.
ALWYN WAYNE BROWN
Convicted of not only child sex offences but also unlawful detention of a child, Brown was released from prison in WA in 2013.
Less than 12 months later he was back in custody, found guilty of breaching the conditions of his release.
Brown was released again in October 2015 when a court ruled he had “made significant progress” in his rehabilitation, sparking public protests and social media campaigns.
GEOFFREY ROBERT DOBBS
Dubbed “Australia’s worst paedophile”, Dobbs has petitioned the Supreme Court of Queensland for release on parole.
Between 1972 and 1999 he abused 62 girls, filming his crimes on cameras hidden throughout his home — telling some of them to smile as he offended against them.
Debate in court centred on whether the risk Dobbs poses to the community had lessened during his concurrent 15-year prison terms.