More sex pests caught loitering near Victorian schools

EXCLUSIVE: SEX pests are increasingly being caught loitering near schools, parks and childcare centres, but the law prevents us from telling you where.

Sad boy. Lonely child. Vulnerable child. Thinkstock

SEX pests are increasingly being caught loitering near schools, parks and childcare centres, prompting calls for electronic tagging of all serious sex offenders.

Victoria Police data shows predators were caught around “child heavy” areas 35 times last year — the highest tally since 2012.

But the law prevents the public from being told the exact locations.

Victorian Commissioner for Victims of Crime Greg Davies said the use of technology such as GPS to monitor all serious sex offenders should be mandatory “until they can prove they pose no threat to the community”.

“It should be up to them to prove themselves, not the community to welcome them with open arms and nothing but their promise that they’ve reformed,” Mr Davies said.

Corrections Victoria would not say how many of 41 serious sex offenders out in the community have court-ordered tracking devices.

Police are urging parents to report any unusual behaviour to ­000, as such tip-offs prove vital for gathering information.

“Don’t go home and think, ‘that was really unusual’ … If you call straight away and give a description, we have a really good chance of identifying who the person might be,” said Superintendent David Watt, from Intelligence and Covert Support Command.

“It is worth doing, even if there hasn’t been any offence, as it allows us to build our intelligence.”

The national head of programs for child abuse prevention organisation Child Wise, Penelope McEncroe, said it was clear GPS technology was not widely used.

“We know sex offenders are recidivist,” Ms McEncroe said.

“Given we know that data, we need to be much more proactive.

“We shouldn’t wait for them to reoffend,” she said.

Ms McEncroe added that parents had a right to know where such incidents were taking place.

She said: “We don’t support a public sex offenders register because we know from overseas studies it can incite vigilante behaviour.

“But if someone is a recidivist offender and is living in the community, then I think parents need to be armed with as much information as possible to prevent their child having any interaction with that person,” she said.

Supt Watt said that in most cases, victims were known to the offender, but random attacks could never be ruled out.

Three forensic psychologists work within the offender management team to “try to understand the individuals” and prevent attacks.

“They understand the factors that are likely to influence registered sex offenders to the point where they are more likely to offend in the future,” Supt Watt said. “We’re ramping up our interaction with them when we identify that we think there might be an increased level of risk. We’re very proactive. We’re not waiting for the public to call up.”

The number of sex pests caught is up from 29 incidents in the year ending September 2014, and 19 for the previous 12 months.

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