Kevin Howard: Child sex offender’s extended supervision order in court

The state government is scrambling to have a new supervision order put on a child rapist whose breaches of restrictions included being caught with videos of children and babies.

A Supreme Court justice has granted an interim supervision order for child rapist Kevin Howard. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Bianca De Marchi

The state government is scrambling to extend a supervision order for a high risk sex offender whose previous plans to move to Coffs Harbour sparked community outrage.

Kevin Howard, 68, had indicated he wanted to move to Coffs Harbour upon release from a nine-year jail sentence he served for subjecting a four-year-old girl to various forms of sex in 2006.

The crime was described by the court as overwhelming because police found photographs of the offences that had been created by Howard for his own subsequent sexual gratification.

It was the most recent of five sexual offences for which he had been convicted of committing against women and girls since 1977.

His intention to move to Coffs Harbour to “play pool, go fishing and have a few beers” at the end of his sentence in 2015 sparked strong reaction in the community.

A petition calling for the high risk sex offender to be kept away from the Mid-North Coast amassed more than 5000 signatures.

It worked and Howard instead moved to Sydney but has not been able to stay out of trouble.

Court documents reveal he was charged at Mt Druitt in Sydney on March 10, 2017, with breaching his order by possessing pornographic films on DVD.

He was also charged at St George in Sydney on August 4, 2018, with breaching his supervision order by consuming alcohol.

Alcohol had been identified as a contributing factor in some of Howard’s earlier sexual offending against women and had been banned under his order.

Howard was further charged at Burwood in Sydney on August 27, 2020, with breaching his supervision order by possessing videos which predominantly featured children.

The breaches resulted in the five-year supervision order that was imposed on his 2015 release being extended to seven years.

The state government applied to the Supreme Court of NSW for an interim supervision order for Howard during a hearing on January 31, which was less than a week before his extended supervision order expired.

The government also applied for Howard to undergo mandatory psychiatric and psychological examinations.

Noting the urgency of the matter, Justice Richard Button granted the application in a judgment on February 3, which was the same day the initial order expired.

The court heard the state government was in the process of applying for another five-year supervision order for Howard.

Justice Button noted that in some senses, Howard’s initial supervision order had proceeded “quite well”.

“He has a degree of support from a longstanding female friend, and has also succeeded in living in shared accommodation,” Justice Button wrote.

“His aspirations are limited, and focus upon enjoying a quiet life that includes fishing.”

He also noted the breaches, saying the possession of the pornographic videos and the videos of children were of concern.

He said in normal circumstances, the videos of the children and babies would be thought of as anodyne, being as they were a television show about youthful dance competitions and instructional videos for the care of babies and very young children.

“But in the context of the offending of the defendant over many years, and the inescapable inference that he has been sexually attracted to children for the same period, they are inevitably troubling,” Justice Button said.

“And that concern is confirmed by the indirect admissions of the defendant that his possession of those items was connected with sexual gratification.”