‘Should never have been let out’: Anger over child rapist release
A child safety campaigner enraged by the rape of a young girl on her birthday in a Cairns park has demanded the courts do more to protect our most vulnerable.
Cairns
Don't miss out on the headlines from Cairns. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A CHILD safety campaigner enraged by the rape of a young girl on her birthday in a Cairns park has demanded the courts do more to protect our most vulnerable.
The life of a nine-year-old abused at her own birthday gathering in a Manunda park will forever be changed by actions of repeat child sex offender Samuel Gaulai Misi.
Bravehearts founder Hetty Johnson believes the 31-year-old – previously jailed for indecent treatment of a child – should never have been back on the street.
He was jailed for seven years for the latest crime, including five breaches of sex offender reporting conditions in the Mackay District Court this week.
Arresting officer on the case Senior Constable Ben Kuhanez said the incident at a Pease St park triggered an around the clock manhunt that lasted five days before Misi was arrested in Atherton.
“If someone is on reporting conditions they have to report their whereabouts but he had moved from Mackay to Cairns and the reporting unit down in Mackay were looking for him,” he said.
“This is an extremely high risk-case and we used all resources to ID him, locate him and arrest him.”
Despite a swift arrest Sen Const Kuhanez conceded it was little consolation for the little girl.
“It’s not something that is going to be forgotten, it occurred at a significant time in her life,” he said.
“So now on her birthday she will be reminded of it. It’s a nightmare scenario.”
Ms Johnson said though courts had the power to keep abusers in jail under an existing two strike child sex offender law, it was rarely exercised.
“The courts don’t like to keep offenders in jail for a crime they might commit,” she said.
“Another life has been destroyed here, we need to be protecting the children in our community but we are not.
“This is not like stealing a car, this is a tragedy for another person’s life.
“The community must demand, that all repeat child sex offenders that reoffend, get life sentences.
“But our system just keeps spitting them back out, this time he ended up in Cairns and a nine-year-old will never get over that.”
Ms Johnson is pushing a change to the system to only release those deemed low-risk offenders.
“All recidivist repeat offenders child sex offenders that reoffend have to get life sentences,” she said.
“The legislation is there to support that, we don’t want these dangerous people on our streets, we don’t want them released until they are low-risk.
“That b*stard should never have been out of jail.”
More Coverage
Originally published as ‘Should never have been let out’: Anger over child rapist release
Beaches house engulfed in flames
Firefighters were called to a suburban house blaze late last night in the Cairns northern beaches.
Explained: Youth leadership six-month program
Six new youth leaders in Cairns have embarked on six-month leadership program aimed at empowering young people with disabilities and complex conditions in rural and regional areas. Application are still open.