‘High risk’ sex offender Richard Lawrence Robinson to be released from prison

A serial rapist will be released from prison this week after spending 16 years behind bars and despite a psychiatrist warning he posed a ‘high risk’ of sexually assaulting more women.

A hepatitis C positive rapist who was jailed for 16 years for an attack on a stranger will be released from jail despite a court foreshadowing that he posed “grave risks” to the community.

Richard Lawrence Robinson, 51, will be released from jail on Wednesday on a 10-year supervision order after a ruling by the Brisbane Supreme Court.

Sixteen years ago Robinson was found guilty of raping a 55-year-old woman after he broke into her Caboolture house through an upstairs window.

He threw a cloth over the woman’s face before forcing her to perform sex acts on him.

At the time of the brutal crime, Robinson had already served 12 years in jail term for the 1989 rape of another woman.

Richard Lawrence Robinson will be released from jail this week after spending 16 years behind bars.

“The February 1989 offences involved grabbing a woman, dragging her into grass, punching her in the head, hitting her on the back of the head with a piece of wood, threatening and then raping her, twice,” Justice Paul Freeburn wrote in a judgment handed down on Friday.

Ahead of his full-time release date this week, a Brisbane Supreme Court held a hearing to determine if Robinson should be kept in prison or released on a supervision order.

Psychiatrist Ness McVie gave evidence that Robinson would pose “high risk of reoffending sexually” against women if let back into the community.

“This risk would not be moderated by a supervision order as he would be likely to be extremely difficult to manage on any order due to his anti-social attitudes, his inability to engage with any treatment, his severe personality disorder, and his ongoing substance use,” Dr McVie wrote.

“If he were to reoffend sexually, this would most likely be the rape of an adult female.”

In his judgment, Justice Freeburn acknowledged Robinson posed a “grave risk” to the community.

He said the risks were heightened because there was no evidence that Robinson had shown any insight or remorse for his offending and had not engaged in any treatment.

But Justice Freeburn agreed with the expert opinions of two other psychiatrists that the risk of reoffending could be “practically managed by a supervision order”.

“A supervision order is not risk free,” Justice Freeburn said.

“However, the proposed supervision order has strict conditions. He will be subject to curfews and monitoring. He will be banned from consuming alcohol or taking drugs.”

Robinson will be subject to the strict supervision order until 2031.