Judge declines to order continuous detention of child sexual offender Jamie Christopher Nelson-Adams
A court has declined to reimpose a period of continuous detention on a violent Gold Coast criminal, despite repeated breaches of a supervision order allowing the defendant to live in a precinct at Wacol.
Police & Courts
Don't miss out on the headlines from Police & Courts. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A court has declined to reorder the continuous detention of a violent Gold Coast child sexual offender, despite them repeatedly breaching a supervision order allowing the defendant to live in a precinct at Wacol.
Jamie Christopher Nelson-Adams, 39, who was born male but now lives as a transgender woman, was made subject to a supervision order in October 2021, according to a recent decision of Supreme Court Justice Catherine Muir.
The order, made under the Dangerous Prisoners (Sexual Offenders) Act 2003, allowed her to live in supervised accommodation on the Wacol Prison Reserve.
According to Justice Muir, Ms Nelson-Adams pleaded guilty in the Southport Magistrates Court on May 8 last year to contravening the Supervision Order and a “myriad of other charges,” leading to an 18-month jail sentence, with parole eligibility as at May 7 this year.
In response to the breaches, the Queensland Attorney-General – at the time, Labor’s Yvette D’Ath – applied to rescind the supervision order and replace it with a continuing detention order.
Ms Nelson-Adams conceded the breaches, but submitted she ought to remain on the supervision order, despite her dissatisfaction with the accommodation arrangements at Wacol, which only caters to males.
Justice Muir said Ms Nelson-Adams grew up in a home “marred by dysfunction in every sense,” featuring drugs, grog, abuse, violence, and suicide.
She turned to drugs and alcohol herself in her teenage years, and was expelled from school after a violent incident with the principal.
In adulthood, Ms Nelson-Adams racked up an “extensive, diverse, and serious” criminal history, featuring convictions for property, burglary and weapons offences, dangerous driving, and breaches of various probation and parole orders.
On July 3, 2016, Ms Nelson-Adams fondled the breast area of a 10-year-old girl while heavily intoxicated, and two days later she kidnapped a woman and held her at knifepoint, leading to a four-year jail sentence.
At its conclusion, she was made subject to a continuous detention order that was rescinded the following year in favour of a supervision order.
The order runs until December 2032 and contains 46 conditions.
However, according to Justice Muir, the order has been breached by Ms Nelson-Adams en masse, with the defendant variously absconding after removing her electronic monitoring device and attempting to carjack a woman while armed; contacting women for sexual purposes; purchasing a PlayStation without approval; contacting old associates through an internet-enabled device for which she did not have approval; receiving unapproved visitors at Wacol; and possessing a photo of her ex-wife and stepdaughter on her phone without approval.
Finding the breaches of the supervision order proven, it fell to Justice Muir to determine whether Ms Nelson-Adams should return to indefinite custody or remain in the supervised accommodation at Wacol (if and when she is either paroled or serves out her existing sentence).
Justice Muir noted the defendant had not committed a sexual offence since the supervision order was put in place.
“The purpose of the supervision order, being to protect the community against the commission of such offences, has [therefore] been fulfilled to date,” she said.
Justice Muir ruled the supervision order should continue on the basis no additional sexual offending had been committed.
“It is not the purpose of the [Dangerous Prisoners (Sexual Offenders) Act 2003] to allow for the continued detention of individuals who pose a risk of criminal offending or contravening a supervision order, even if that risk is said to be high,” she said.
‘Using alcohol to cope’: Ex-Bachie hopeful admits DUI
An ex-contestant on The Bachelor, who owns a swimwear label on the Gold Coast, has told a court she is embarrassed after swerving through roadworks and hitting traffic cones under the influence.
Alleged street racer has charges upgraded after pedestrian death
A young Gold Coast motorist who was allegedly engaged in a street race when the other vehicle allegedly struck and killed a pedestrian has faced court after his charge was upgraded.