Serial sex predator Jacob Arthur Wichen back behind bars

A serial sex predator controversially released from jail amid multiple warnings he was a risk to the community, has been arrested and returned to prison.

A serial sex predator who was controversially released from jail amid multiple warnings he was a risk to the community has been arrested and returned to prison.

Sex offender Jacob Arthur Wichen, who has a shocking history of targeting older women, was on Friday arrested by police on a Parole Board warrant for breaching two of his licence conditions.

The breaches involved Wichen accessing pornography and using drugs.

His arrest comes just four months after he was freed on licence by the Supreme Court – despite warnings by Parole Board chief Frances Nelson KC and a psychiatrist that he was “a significant risk” of reoffending if released into the community.

His controversial release came after his lawyers took his case to the High Court, which overturned two Supreme Court decisions to release him on licence.

Wichen, 49, was released on licence in late April and was subject to the strictest conditions imposed on a sex offender in the state’s history.

The 27 conditions included that he must be subject to GPS tracking at all times, undergo counselling to address his sexual offending, undergo psychological assessment, not access pornography either electronically or physically and not use drugs other than those prescribed by a doctor.

Wichen was ordered to live at a western suburbs address and was prohibited from leaving the premises for any reason other than approved medical treatment or employment.

It is understood the bill for 24-hour supervision of Wichen and other measures to monitor him at the premises was more than $20,000 per month.

Wichen has a shocking criminal history that includes dishonesty offences, break and enter, breaching parole, indecent and common assault and multiple serious sex attacks on women.

In 1992 he was convicted of the attempted rape of a female taxi driver, 53, and in 1994 was convicted of another attempted rape – this time of a schoolteacher.

He had been in custody since April 2002 after trying to rape a woman, 65, after breaking into her Port Augusta home.

Wichen’s release in April followed a two-year battle by his lawyers to secure his release.

In 2021 the Supreme Court refused to release him because it was feared he could not control his sexual instincts and would reoffend. That decision was upheld by the Court of Appeal, with Wichen’s lawyers then taking his case to the High Court.

Supreme Court Judge Chief Justice Chris Kourakis. Picture: Dylan Coker

Following his shock High Court victory last June, the case was remitted to the Supreme Court for determination in accordance with the reasons of the High Court – resulting in him being released by Chief Justice Chris Kourakis.

In February Ms Nelson said the Parole Board had presented three reports to the Supreme Court and “was of the view that he still represented a significant risk to the community”.

In his judgment approving Wichen’s release on licence, Chief Justice Kourakis said “there is a material risk that Mr Wichen will not always comply with all of the conditions of his release”.

After being arrested by police yesterday, Wichen was taken to Yatala Labor Prison where he will remain until he is brought before the Parole Board for a hearing.

Last month the Supreme Court ordered the release on licence of another serial sexual offender, Daryl Martin Hore, based on the same High Court ruling that freed Wichen.

Hore, 45, who is being held in Mt Gambier Prison, will be released later this year when his release conditions are finalised and suitable accommodation has been found.

Hore was first arrested in 2003 after indecently assaulting a boy, 10. He was convicted in 2007 and given a two-year suspended prison sentence.

While he was awaiting trial for the 2003 offending, Hore offended against another boy, 10, and was convicted and given a two-year and six-month sentence.

When he was released from prison in 2013 he contravened his sex offender register provisions by moving in with a woman who had young children.

When police searched his computer they found almost 500 items of child exploitation material. He was convicted and sentenced to another 16 months in prison.

In 2016 when he was nearing the end of his sentence the Attorney-General applied to the court and obtained an order that he be detained until further order. He applied for release on licence in 2018 but this was refused by the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal.

In Supreme Court hearings earlier this year following the High Court decision to remit his case for reconsideration, it was revealed he had been prescribed anti-libidinal medication since 2021 that had reduced his “bad thoughts” concerning young boys and his risk of reoffending.