Christopher Eakin: Paedophile sentenced for order breaches

A convicted Dubbo sex offender who went on a school holiday adventure to a park and pool full of kids has told a court about his sad upbringing.

A convicted paedophile has been allowed to walk free from jail after a court heard shocking details about sexual assault he suffered as a child and severe neglect.

Dubbo man Christopher Eakin, 37, spent the past two months behind bars after he breached a child protection prohibition order twice during the summer school holidays.

The public pool in Narromine Christopher Eakin drove to. Picture: Facebook

In court documents, police said Eakin’s breaches of the order occurred after he drove his friends to Narromine, about 34 kilometres west of Dubbo, on January 19.

Eakin dropped his friends at the public swimming pool and drove to a park in Narromine where he spent 25 minutes in the corner, near a children’s playground.

After he went to collect his friends from the pool, Eakin hung around outside the facility and another park nearby.

His movements were being tracked through an ankle bracelet he was fitted with and he handed himself into police shortly after returning to Dubbo.

The Rotary Park in Narromine visited by Christopher Eakin. Picture: Google

Police said Eakin was convicted of the aggravated sexual assault of a person under 16 in 1999.

He appeared in Dubbo Local Court, via audiovisual link from jail, for sentencing on Wednesday, after previously pleading guilty to two counts of breaching a child protection prohibition order.

The court heard Eakin was subject to the order because of a conviction and prison sentence he received last year for soliciting child abuse material.

Defence lawyer Jacky Dougan-Jones told the court Eakin was neglected as a child, sexually assaulted and locked in a room for two days without food or water.

“Mr Eakin has now been in custody since January 19 … he instructs me that he contacted police that morning to ask where he could go and where he couldn’t go,” Ms Dougan-Jones said.

“The experiences of abuse and neglect affected his development.”

Dubbo Local Court Magistrate Theresa Hamilton ordered Christopher Eakin to undertake community service work. Picture: Jedd Manning

Magistrate Theresa Hamilton said Eakin had not approached any child or been found in the company of children.

“He hasn’t really shown any insight into his offending … he has been assessed as a high risk of reoffending,” she said in reference to a sentencing assessment report tendered in court.

“I think it’s probably better for the community for him to be on some sort of supervised order.”

After taking into account the two months Eakin had spent in custody and his early pleas of guilty, Magistrate Hamilton sentenced him to a 15-month community corrections order and 100 hours of community service work.

He was expected to be released from jail on Wednesday.