Southern and Western Downs sex offenders and their sickening crimes exposed
Across our regions there are sick offenders and their crimes can now be revealed. These are the offenders who faced the region’s courts in 2023 on sex offences
Warwick
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Shocking sexual offenders gain the scorn of their communities, leaving members of our region scarred and traumatised.
These offender’s crimes span multiple towns and regions, ranging from months repeated sexual exploitation to disturbing one-off attacks.
Read the names and remember the faces of the Southern and Western Downs sex offenders, and find out their upcoming parole dates.
DALBY
CONVICTIONS RECORDED
• A Dalby sex offender labelled by a psychologist as a ‘moderate risk’ of reoffending was released after serving only three months after he pleaded guilty to preying on a child.
David John Walker Powell faced Dalby District Court for two counts of maintaining an unlawful and sexual relationship with a child under 16.
He pleaded guilty to one count and was found not guilty by a judge-only trial held by Judge Dennis Lynch, which took two-and-a-half days in March 2023.
In reference to count one, which Powell pleaded guilty to, the court was told between May 31, 2011 and March 29, 2013 the father of three inappropriately touched the victim.
Powell admitted to “unlawfully touching” the girl while visiting his friend’s house.
“On the occasions you described, you took advantage of the opportunity to exploit the complainant’s young age for your own sexual gratification,” Judge Lynch said.
“The complainant was very young and therefore vulnerable and she was in a position where she could be taken advantage of.”
The judge told the man he used his position within the family to take advantage of the child.
The court was told the man committed the offence either before or at the same time he was charged for indecent treatment of a child under 12 on March 28, 2014 – for that charge he was sentenced to 12 months’ jail, suspended after serving three months.
Judge Lynch also noted the man had “similarly offended against” other adult women.
Powell pleaded guilty to one count of maintaining a sexual relationship with a child under 16 and was sentenced to 18 months’ jail to be suspended after he serves three months. Four days of custody was declared as time served.
NO CONVICTIONS RECORDED
• Clayton James Mace thought he was sending online messages and a graphic photo of himself to a 13-year-old girl over the course of two weeks, but it was actually an undercover police officer.
The 28-year-old Dalby man appeared in the town’s District Court on March 6, 2023, after sending an image of his penis to what he thought was a young girl on October 6, 2021.
He pleaded guilty to using an electronic communication device with intent to procure a person he believed was under 16 to commit a sexual act.
The sting began on September 25 in 2021 after the former Chinchilla resident was contacted by an undercover police officer over Facebook messenger, who was posing as a 13-year-old girl.
Crown prosecutor Natalie Lima told the court the man was made aware of the girl’s age from the beginning before sending a string of explicit messages asking the underage girl to send naked photos of herself to him.
Before Mace sent explicit photo of himself, he attempted to goad the “child” into taking a photo in her bathroom in her underwear.
“I want nudes really … to help me get horny,” Mace said to the decoy.
Mace then sent a photo of his penis to what he believed was a child.
Defence lawyer Frank Martin told the court the father-of-two had no criminal history and had begun seeing two psychologists following the sting to assist in mental health treatment.
Mr Martin also submitted a report that said the man was at low risk of reoffending.
While sentencing the man, Judge Lynch acknowledged Mace was “profoundly depressed” before committing the offence due to having no contact with his two children and the breakdown of his relationship with his children’s mother.
He was sentenced to 200 hours of community service, and no conviction was recorded.
STANTHORPE
CONVICTIONS RECORDED
• A Stanthorpe man was sentenced towards the end of 2023 after disturbing details of him sexually assaulting a woman at a party were aired in court, as well as the sick text message he sent the victim after the offending.
Ryan Albert Martin Miller pleaded guilty on November 29, 2023 to a sexual assault and three other charges including possessing drug utensils, breach of bail and weapon possession.
Warwick Magistrates Court was told the 21-year-old was attending a party at Stanthorpe, where Miller was under the influence of meth and alcohol.
The man invited the victim, a woman, to his bedroom to watch a movie, however, the woman was weary of Miller, and requested another friend to come with her.
During the movie, Miller began making unwanted advances towards the woman, and rubbed his hand from her leg up to her inner thigh, under her pants.
The woman snapped at him, telling him to “f--k off” and that she didn’t want to be touched.
Miller responded by grabbing the woman’s breast, jumping off the bed, and blocking the woman from leaving the room.
“If you want to leave you have to f--k me,” Miller told the woman, before grabbing her around her waist and throwing her on the bed.
Sickening, after the offending Miller texted the woman “I want to get my f--king ropes out and tie you up and treat you like a ragdoll to the point every part of your body is going to be hurting inside and out. There’s more to it but that’s a rough idea for you.”
The crime was reported to authorities who caught up with Miller, finding him with drug paraphernalia, including water pipes and a cone piece, as well as a butterfly and throwing knife.
“You demonstrated you have no respect which is extremely concerning, you need to have a long hard think about your attitude towards people and your lack of respect,” magistrate Virginia Sturgess said.
For the sexual assault charge, Miller was jailed for six months, wholly suspended for 18 months.
Miller was convicted and fined $500 for the other offences, with the prohibited items forfeit.
When criminals front court on sexual offending matters, a majority of the time publications are unable to identify the offenders due to risk of identifying the victim, or for other legal reasons.
These two Stanthorpe offenders are unable to be named, but their horrific offending occurred within our communities.
• A Stanthorpe man was sentenced in 2023 after his “unnatural” sexual offending against a child was revealed in his trial.
The man – who cannot be named for legal reasons – was found guilty of one count of maintaining an unlawful sexual relationship with a child under 16 by a jury on Wednesday morning in Warwick District Court.
The jury took just over an hour to reach its verdict, with many members of the jury returning to the courtroom to watch the sentence of the man, who is now aged in his 50s.
While tucking the child into bed, the man would “repeatedly” slip his hands under the blanket to touch the child’s genitalia.
The court was told the offending would progress years later, with the man using the excuse of hugging the child to touch and squeeze her breasts.
The court was told the man reached into the back seat of his vehicle when he was with the child, pulled out a black bag filled with sex toys, and detailed what they were and their use. The sex toys were later located at the man’s address during a police search.
On another occasion, the man gave the child a bottle of lubricant and told the child “this is when you want to pleasure yourself”.
The man creepily confessed to the child, he had dreams of her naked and was “waiting until she was 18 so they could have sex”.
Crown prosecutor Sam Rigby said the man had no remorse for the child victim throughout the trial, making her go through cross-examination and evidence giving, reliving the trauma of his offending.
“He was acting as a father figure, and there was a significant breach of trust to her, in a place where she should have felt safest. She was only a pre-pubescent child when the offending occurred,” Mr Rigby said.
“Your grooming behaviour exacerbated your offending, you exposed (the victim) to your unnatural lust towards her,” Judge John Allen KC said.
The man was sentenced to three years imprisonment, with eligibility for parole after half the sentence was served.
The man could be released on parole as early as May 22, 2025.
• A ‘grotesque’ Granite Belt offender labelled ‘deplorable’ by a judge, was sentenced in 2023 for horrific crimes against children including assault, threats and sexual assault.
The man – who cannot be named for legal reasons – had pleaded not guilty to a total of 11 charges on July 31 in Warwick District Court.
The jury returned a verdict finding the man guilty of eight charges relating to one boy; five counts of rape, and one charge each of maintaining sexual relations with a child, assault with intent to rape and threatening violence.
The Crown alleged there were three victims the man offended against, however, the jury acquitted him on the other charges which related to two other boys.
The man, now aged 39, was born in Tenterfield and spent majority of his life in the Granite Belt where the offending occurred, while his victim was as young as five.
On one occasion, the man pulled a gun on the child if he dared expose his sick offending to anyone.
Judge Terry Gardiner told the man his offending was “serious” and he “manipulated a child to suit his own grotesque ends.”
“I have little doubt your acts would traumatise him, and will continue to traumatise him throughout his life.”
The man was sentenced to a head sentence of seven years imprisonment, with 16 months in custody recognised as time served.
He is expected to be eligible for parole on October 7, 2025.
WARWICK
CONVICTION RECORDED
• Depraved accomplice Melinda Maree Orchard was involved in a horrific offending spree on a woman which the Rose City won't soon forget.
Alongside Dwayne Edward Nixon, from Gatton, on February 25 Nixon went to the home of a 22-year-old Warwick woman, and at knifepoint threatened her to get into his car.
The 51-year-old man kidnapped the woman via knifepoint, picking up Orchard on the way to a Warwick address to begin engaging in a horrific attack.
The court was told during Nixon’s sentencing that over the following nine hours, Nixon subjected the woman horrifying physical abuse, including striking her legs with a metal object to prevent escape as well as “degrading and humiliating” acts.
Nixon engaged in rape with the woman, before forcing the woman to engage in beasitality.
Orchard recorded the bestiality incident and “threatened to release the video on the internet.”
The mother-of-three was labelled as an “active participant” in the crimes alongside Nixon, by the prosecution.
Orchard pleaded guilty in Warwick District Court on August 7 to eight charges related to the horrific night of terror that was inflicted on a young woman.
During Orchard’s sentencing, crown prosecutor Teagan Little told the court that Orchard was an “active participant” and was “directly involved” in the disturbing sex act involving the dog.
Judge Terry Gardiner described the offending as “protractive,” “terrifying” and “inhumane”, particularly the recording aspect.
Quoting the victim impact statement, Judge Gardiner said “there was no question the victim suffered and continues to suffer significant mental and physical trauma as a result of your conduct.”
Orchard was sentenced to six years in jail, with eligibility of parole after two, with Judge Gardiner declaring her 527 days in custody as time served.
Orchard will be eligible for parole on February 25, 2024.
• Nixon was sentenced in June, to one charge of kidnapping, sexual assault, stealing, extortion, bestiality as well as two charges of torture, and three charges of assault occasioning bodily harm while armed in company and rape.
Judge Dennis Lynch KC told the Nixon during his sentencing that he was a very serious offender and he committed “unspeakable acts of cruelty.”
“Your sentence needs to denounce your conduct and record your appalling lack of humanity involved in your behaviour and primarily protect the community by preventing you from being in a position to subject anyone else to that for a significant time.”
Nixon was sentenced to 10 years, with a non-parole period of eight years.
• A former fireman subjected multiple women to depraved phone calls where he asked about their intimate sex habits, bragged about his “size” and asked to meet up in toilets.
Alan Douglas Self, 78, targeted women at multiple Warwick businesses between December 8, 2022, and January 6, 2023, the court heard.
The court was told the 78-year-old left women fearful by his harassment, with magistrate Virginia Sturgess delivering a strong condemnation of his actions.
“In each case a woman has answered the phone and in each case you have made disgusting, sexist remarks to these women,” she said.
On one case, a woman working at a business answered the phone, with Self asking crudely if she shaved her genitalia.
Mere minutes later, he asked another woman at a separate business if she was a virgin.
“You said again, ‘do you shave your p---y?’ And then in a further call, ‘do you want to meet me in the toilet?’ Then a further call with another victim at the same business, where you said, ‘I’m not sure what it is in metric, but in imperial value my penis is 11 inches,” Ms Sturgess said.
Ms Sturgess said the harassment of women at their workplaces was “completely unacceptable” and there was “no explanation” for Self’s behaviour.
Self pleaded guilty to three counts of using a carriage service to menace or harass, and was fined $1000.
Ms Sturgess allowed Self six months to pay and advised he faced 10 days in jail if he defaulted.
NO CONVICTIONS RECORDED
• Christopher John Newton was caught by his victim while masturbating as the other man was using the bathroom in the Jackie Howe Park toilet block, which is just metres from the park’s playground and nearby to two junior sporting fields.
The 61-year-old man quickly took advantage of a man in a rush to use the bathroom, and forgetting to shut the door behind him.
The man was caught ‘red handed’ watching the man and stroking his penis.
“What the f--k are you doing,” the man told Newton, “get out of here before you get hurt.”
The man immediately pushed past Newton and reported the shocking incident to police.
People using a public place are entitled to not be exposed to indecent behaviour and likewise people who are using public toilets are entitled not to be confronted in this way,” magistrate Sturgess said.
Newton pleaded guilty to one count of committing an indecent act in public, which carries a maximum penalty of two years’ jail.
He was fined $400 and no conviction was recorded.
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