‘Australia’s worst pedophile’ Geoffrey Robert Dobbs may be paroled

HE ABUSED 62 young girls, videotaping some of them in his Brisbane home. Now the man dubbed Australia’s worst pedophile may be eligible for parole.

## HAVE YOU /CHECKED COPYRIGHT /CLEARANCE ?? 24 Jul 2003 /District Court Copypic of accused pedophile Geoffrey Robert Dobbs (45yrs) who took videotapes of young girls whom he also molested -

A MAN dubbed Australia’s worst pedophile for abusing 62 young girls could soon be eligible for parole, after a judge ended his indefinite sentence.

Geoffrey Robert Dobbs, a former Boys Brigade leader and Sunday school teacher, molested young girls over three decades, even filming them from a ceiling spyhole.

POSITIVE: Pedophile ‘responds to treatment’

UNDER REVIEW: Dobbs’s indefinite jail term

Chief Judge of the District Court, Judge Kerry O’Brien, who gave Dobbs life and indefinite sentences in 2003, says he no longer believes he poses a danger to the community.

In July 2003 Dobbs was sentenced for more than 100 offences involving the sexual mistreatment of children, committed from 1972, when he was 18, to 1999, when he was 45.

Indefinite sentences were imposed for two carnal knowledge offences.

“He is still subject to a sentence of life imprisonment and remains in prison,’’ a Justice Department spokesman said.

Inside his Brisbane home Dobbs set up a series of trapdoors and perches within the roof, from which he would film girls nude or semi-nude as they changed to swim in his pool.

Dobbs came to police attention after he took a jammed video cassette to a repair shop and a technician noticed footage of him having sex with a girl.

He had told some victims to smile at the camera as he molested them.

Dobbs in his Boys’ Brigade uniform.

A bathroom ceiling vent through which some of the videos were recorded.

On March 6, Judge O’Brien discharged the indefinite sentence and substituted concurrent 15-year sentences, although it was opposed by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Dobbs is still in Wacol Correctional Centre, but as he has been in jail, with pre-sentence custody, for 14 years, he soon could be eligible to apply for parole.

“It defies my faith in humanity that an offender of this scope could ever be considered for release,’’ one of Dobbs’s victims told The Courier-Mail.

“If there is such a thing as an indefinite sentence, surely the worst offender in Australia’s history is the one person who wouldn’t qualify for release.

“Nobody with a pulse would think that him being released, on whatever level of supervision, would be acceptable.’’

Judge O’Brien lifted the indefinite sentences after reading reports from a psychologist and psychiatrist, who previously said Dobbs was unlikely to change his pedophilic sexual orientation.

The psychiatrist’s latest report said he was now of moderate to low risk of reoffending.

“I am satisfied that (Dobbs’s) risk of reoffending has reduced significantly over the last 14 years,’’ Judge O’Brien said.

He said if he was granted parole Dobbs would be subject to strict conditions.