Paedophile Milton Orkopoulos released from Long Bay
Disgraced former Labor minister Milton Orkopoulos has been released on parole after serving more than a decade behind bars for child sex and drug offences.
NSW
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Convicted paedophile and disgraced former state government minister Milton Orkopoulos has walked free from jail on parole.
The 62-year-old left Long Bay Prison on Friday morning after serving more than a decade behind bars for child sex and drug offences.
The grey haired former Labor MP strolled out wearing a suit while carrying plastic bags full of documents and other belongings including antidepressant medication.
Orkopoulos was a prominent figure in the former Iemma Labor state government when he was charged in 2006.
Police made explosive allegations that the politician had been preying on young boys since 1995, plying them with cannabis and alcohol or injecting them with heroin before sexually abusing them.
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Paedophile given four year supervision order
He was sentenced in 2008 for 30 offences including seven counts of sexual intercourse with a person between 10 and 18, 18 counts of supplying cannabis and heroin, and one of rape and possessing child pornography.
Earlier this month the State Parole Authority granted his conditional release in time for Christmas, saying the “worst” outcome for the community is keeping him locked up until his maximum sentence expires in October 2021 when he’ll be under no supervision.
Orkopoulos will have to wear an ankle monitor and is banned from Lake Macquarie and Newcastle where many of his crimes against adolescent boys took place.
He must also comply with the child protection register and cannot be unaccompanied around anyone aged under 16 among other conditions.
In his decision, Justice James Woods cited the Serious Offenders Review Council that was concerned Orkopoulos had been denied day leave by the Corrective Services commissioner.
This month Orkopoulos’ lawyer Omar Juweinat said he’s not sure if his client is mentally prepared for the difficult transition back into the community but parole is a “big deal” for Orkopoulos after almost 12 years in custody.
He had been denied release at previous parole hearings in 2016 and 2018 because he needed to conduct more sex-offender and prerelease courses.
Psychological and prison reports obtained by The Daily Telegraph reveal the self-described “twisted” sex offender believes he’s the real victim.
“He stated he was denied the presumption of innocence, as he believes he was set up by the police and the victims in what he described as a ‘political trial’,” one report read.
Orkopoulos’ believed he had more to lose than his victims and was never going to be exposed even as his wife warned his drug use “will bring us to ruin”.
Justice Woods noted a very different state of mind now presented in Orkopoulos.
“The offender claimed accountability for his actions and is said to have accepted the inappropriateness of his behaviour and his desire to place his own sexual gratification before the harm to his victims,” he said.
However Orkopoulos has failed two drug tests while in prison and described his relapse as “embarrassing”.
The first was in 2015 and the second in February this year when he tested positive for the opioid Buprenorphine.
He has since passed a test in August.
Lake Macquarie Councillor Kevin Baker, who campaigned to have Orkopoulos’ photo taken down from the council building wall, made it clear he would not be welcome back in his old stomping ground.
”He is a danger to society, and amazingly still puts himself out to be the victim, feeling that he was set up by police and victims – and continued to offend while in prison, receiving and using illegal drugs,” he said.