Paedophile forced out

A CONVICTED paedophile's brief settlement in a rural town near Ipswich has sparked outrage in the community.

A CONVICTED paedophile's brief settlement in a rural town near Ipswich has sparked outrage in the community.

Mark Anthony Foy, who has served jail time for a string of child sex offences, is believed to have been relocated to a property outside Harrisville, south of Ipswich, before being moved to "contingency accommodation" at the Wacol prison reserve on November 2.

Foy was jailed in 2001 for 12 counts of indecent treatment of children under 12 years old and one count of indecent treatment of a child under 16 years old.

A Harrisville Neighbourhood Watch meeting saw more than double its usual turnout as residents voiced their outrage.

Harrisville Neighbourhood Watch president Pam Lobwein said people were irate at Foy's presence.

"People are very, very upset," she said.

"They want him removed there and then, they want him removed and they don't want him in the area."

Ms Lobwein said while it is believed he is located outside of Harrisville he has been spotted, wearing a monitoring bracelet, in town and close to the school.

"Why is he allowed near the school?" she asked.

Member for Lockyer Ian Rickuss said he was outraged a convicted paedophile had been placed in a small community such as Harrisville.

"(Harrisville residents) are bloody fuming," he said. "It's a small community; there is only one police officer out here at the moment.

"Why would you place someone with such a bad record as Foy in a town with so few facilities?

"It's totally inappropriate to put them in places like Harrisville.

"You've got to question the process of where they place these blokes if Harrisville is an option."

Department of Corrective Services acting commissioner Peter Bottomley said while an offender had been living in the area that person was moved.

"An offender subject to a community-based supervision order under the terms of the Dangerous Prisoners (Sexual Offenders) Act was living in approved accommodation in the Ipswich region," Mr Bottomley said.

"The offender was under the supervision of Queensland Corrective Services, including electronic monitoring.

"The offender was yesterday (Wednesday) relocated to alternative contingency accommodation."

Foy was found in breach of his supervision order in 2008 after being caught swimming in the Chuwar quarry with two teenage boys.

Originally published as Paedophile forced out