Reginald John Butler: Mittagong child sex offender escapes jail after breaching child protection register conditions

A convicted child sex offender has narrowly escaped jail after going online despite a court ordering him not to do so.

A convicted paedophile has narrowly avoided jail time after he was caught using the internet to search for porn featuring “teens”, access dating sites, and set up a social media account.

Reginald John Butler, 54, appeared in Moss Vale Local Court on Friday after pleading guilty to three charges of failing to comply with the reporting conditions of his parole, and one charge of driving under the influence of drugs.

The Mittagong man has previously been convicted of a child sex offence and is required to comply with the reporting conditions of the Child Protection Register, which outline that he must disclose changes to his address, phone, and relevant information.

Butler admitted to breaching these conditions three times between 12pm on April 23 and 3pm on June 3 2020 in Mittagong. He told police he didn’t know about the conditions, despite being informed of his obligations as a registered child sex offender in January 2017.

Convicted child sex offender Reginald John Butler breached his bail by accessing the internet for teen porn and social media. Picture: Facebook

The court heard Butler cannot read or write very well, but Magistrate Mark Douglass questioned how he was able to navigate the internet without those skills.

“He’s set up internet profiles and he’s done searches,” he said.

Court documents state Butler was charged with three breaches which have “allowed him to access young persons through the use of social media and the internet.”

Police arranged an inspection of Butler’s home and communications devices on April 2 when he went to the station to inform them he would soon have a new phone number. When they asked how long he’d had the phone, Butler said he’d had it for a while and had forgotten to tell them.

After inspecting the phone, police found a Facebook account with a picture of Butler and they seized the phone. They looked into the history of internet searches on the phone and found numerous searches for pornography, particularly featuring “teenagers”.

The search history also showed Butler had accessed two dating sites, although police weren’t able to determine whether dating profiles had been created.

Reginald John Butler informed police he would soon be changing his phone number. Picture: NSW Police

Butler was on parole when he committed these offences.

“Had police not attended to complete the inspection, it is not known how long it would have taken for the accused to update police with these details, if at all,” the documents read.

Magistrate Douglass agreed it was concerning Butler had three charges of failing to comply while he was already serving a sentence.

“He was on a CCO for similar offences when he committed this offence,” he said.

Butler was also arrested on November 23, 2020 in Wagga Wagga for driving under the influence of methamphetamine and cannabis. He was driving with a passenger when he was stopped by police for a random drug test and returned a positive result.

“I had a cone with the boys two days ago,” he told police.

His lawyer told the court Butler had been struggling with his circumstances and his mental health but was now in a stable position.

“His medication is now the appropriate medication,” he said.

“He has accommodation.”

Reginald John Butler appeared at Moss Vale Local Court on May 28 2021. Picture: AAP Image/Joel Carrett

However, Magistrate Douglass said the offences were serious and targeted a demographic which needs protection.

“The legislation is there to protect the most vulnerable people in our society – people under 16,” he said.

Magistrate Douglass sentenced Butler to a two-year Community Corrections Order with mandatory supervision. He also ordered Butler to make his communications devices available to supervisors and to undergo mental health assessment and treatment.

Butler told The Bowral News he’d been put on the Offenders Register and given a five-year sentence for just tapping the bum of a young woman.