LIST: Child sex offenders convicted in Gympie region courts

(Warning: Distressing content) From a grandfather who raped and molested a teenager in his care, to a creep who offered an underage girl $1000 for sex, here are some of the most shocking child sex offenders hauled before the Gympie courts.

This list contains some of the region’s most notorious child sex offenders who have been convicted and sentenced in the Gympie courts.

(We warn you that some of this content may be distressing or triggering.)

From a grandfather who raped and molested an innocent teenager in his care, to a man who offered an underage girl $1000 to have sex with him, these are 10 of the region’s most heinous cases.

The names are presented in no particular order.

1. John William Spencer

A jury took just one hour to reach a guilty verdict in the 2021 trial of a Gympie man charged with multiple child sex offences, including rape.

John William Spencer will spend a minimum of two years behind bars after being convicted of two counts of rape and five counts of indecent treatment of a child under the age of 16 and in his care at the time.

The 61-year-old was sentenced to four years in prison but will be eligible for parole halfway through his sentence.

John William Spencer, Gympie District Court.

Following the guilty verdict, Spencer still maintained his innocence, simply stating, “I’m not guilty”.

One young member of the public turned towards Spencer in the dock as they were being asked to leave, and said “I love you, Pop” before exiting the courtroom.

Spencer will be eligible for parole in 2023.

READ MORE HERE: 61-year-old guilty of child sex offences, rape

2. Craig Anthony Mclean

After attempting to take his own life twice on the morning of his sentencing, a Gympie man who took advantage of a 13-year-old girl and had sex with her in public was jailed.

Craig Anthony Mclean, 30, sat in the Gympie District Court in 2020, as the court heard the disturbing details of Mclean‘s offending against a child, who was 13 and 14 at the time.

The court heard the offending began in July 2018, when Mclean drove her to a lookout near Gympie, and placed his hand down her bra and proceeded to put his hand down her shorts after she said no.

Craig Anthony Mclean.

Months later, he took her to a park in Gympie, where they had sex on a park table before he dropped her home.

He was charged with two counts of indecent treatment of a child under 16, one count of having carnal knowledge with a child under 16, and one count of possessing child exploitation material.

Judge Gary Long gave Mclean a head sentence of two years and three months, to be suspended for nine months after he served nine months.

READ MORE HERE: Gympie man who had sex with 13yo in public park jailed

3. Oliver Brady Alcorn

A registered child sex offender who performed a sex act on a bus and had a sleepover with a 14-year-old failed to tell police he was living with “knee-high” children.

Oliver Brady Alcorn didn't tell police he had moved into a Pomona home where young children were living.

Defence lawyer Anna Smith said the 32-year-old man didn‘t disclose the information because he was staying with a person who was on parole.

Noosa Magistrates Court heard Alcorn was a registered sex offender, previously convicted of four counts of indecent treatment of a child under 16.

READ MORE HERE: Sex offender's sleepover with child after disgusting bus act

4. Sam James Chambers

A former police liaison officer and teacher who repeatedly violated a 12-year-old girl in her bed as she lay frozen with fear sobbed as he was given no further jail time when he was sentenced in the Gympie District Court in 2019.

The court heard Sam James Chambers, 48, had entered his victim’s bedroom at a Southside property after a day mostly spent drinking, waking her by opening the door.

He stood and stared at her, before sitting down on the edge of her bed and touching her over the top of her clothing.

Chambers then took his pants off and got into bed with her, rubbing against her - again on the outside of her clothing - for “about five minutes”.

READ MORE HERE: Gympie child sex offender out of jail after just five months

5. Graham Robert Hamilton

A Gympie region man was eligible for parole in 2019 after serving just one year behind bars for repeatedly sexually assaulting a five-year-old girl who called him her “best friend”.

Graham Robert Hamilton faced sentencing in the Gympie District Court in 2018 after pleading guilty to three counts of indecent treatment of a child under 12 years earlier in the week.

Graham Robert Hamilton is led away from the Gympie District Court after pleading guilty to three child sex offences on a five-year-old girl.

The victim, aged between five and six years over the course of the offending, described “yucky stuff” going into her mouth during the assault, and said she had touched his penis with her hands.

She would later explain Hamilton “wanted me to do that” and would also describe him as her ”best friend”.

READ MORE HERE: Gympie child sex fiend to walk free from jail next month

6. Gordon Lloyd Adams

A former Gympie senior citizen of the year was jailed in 2018 for the rape and repeated sexual assault of a nine-year-old girl.

Over a two-year period in the 1980s Gordon Lloyd Adams took a young girl to a number of isolated locations where he sexually abused her and on one occasion forced himself on to her.

The girl was aged between nine and 12 at the time.

In 2018, Adams, then 65, was sentenced at Brisbane District Court to six and half years jail for rape and indecent treatment of a child under 12.

Adams was eligible for parole in 2019.

READ MORE HERE: Former citizen of the year jailed for child rape

7. Ross William Thompson

Convicted rapist, repeat child sex offender and would-be wife-killer, Ross William Thompson, was released from Gympie District Court in October 2019.

But the Calico Creek molester did not quite walk free. The judge ordered that Thompson be jailed for a further 18 months, suspended immediately for five years.

Thompson, then 45, entered a late guilty plea to charges that he raped and later sexually assaulted an underage girl at Kandanga in 2011 and 2012, before molesting her again nearly five years later, at Calico Creek.

Crown prosecutor Aleksandra Nikolic told the court other offences recorded in Thompson‘s criminal history included sexual offending against a nine-year-old boy, for which he was sentenced in Emerald District Court.

READ MORE HERE: Gympie court: Triple child rapist, would-be killer walks

8. Ryan Michael Sharman

A former radio host and child safety advocate was released from prison after pleading guilty to charges including having protected sex with a 13-year-old girl.

Ryan Michael Sharman, then 22, pleaded guilty in Gympie District Court in 2019 to four counts of having carnal knowledge of a child under 16 and one count each of grooming a child under 16, unlawful stalking with violence, possessing child exploitation material, making child exploitation material and burglary and stealing.

Radio presenter, Ryan Sharman. Photo Patrick Woods / Gympie Times

Sharman also pleaded guilty to 86 summary offences, including 31 breach of bail conditions as domestic violence offences, 31 counts of contravening a domestic violence protection order and 24 additional breaches of bail conditions.

Judge Glen Cash said Sharman met the girl personally after about a month of online conversations and began exchanging nude photos with her at that point and afterwards.

Sharman then engaged in sexual activity which included protected sexual intercourse with the girl on four separate occasions when she was aged 13 and 14, the court heard.

READ MORE HERE: Gympie child sex pest walks free from court

9. Thomas James Roadley

Thomas James Roadley was already a convicted paedophile when he admitted offering an underage girl $1000 to have sex with him.

Roadley, 64, pleaded guilty in Gympie District Court in 2019 to five offences of indecently treating a child and one of attempting to procure a child for carnal knowledge between January 2016 and March 2019.

He also pleaded guilty to two breaches of bail conditions involving contact with children and 13 of failing to comply with his reporting obligations under child protection legislation.

One of the charges involved kissing a child on the lips and the other involved “a cuddle” and touching that made the girl feel uncomfortable enough to inform her mother.

The conduct escalated when Roadley offered a girl money to allow him to touch her breasts and in one case offered her $1000 to have sex with him.

Judge Long jailed Roadley for three years, including 286 days already served in pre-sentence custody, with parole eligibility from February 23, 2020.

READ MORE HERE: Repeat offender in Gympie District Court

10. Paul Richard Wilson

A criminologist who wrote a Penthouse article that gave Gympie the unwanted tag of Helltown was jailed for child sexual abuse in 2016.

A jury found Paul Richard Wilson, 75, guilty at the Brisbane District Court on Wednesday, 2016 of four counts of indecent treatment of a child that occurred in the 1970s.

The girl was aged between eight and 11 and Wilson in his mid-30s when the offending occurred.

READ MORE HERE: 'Helltown' author jailed for child sex offences