Criminal convicted with possession of child exploitation material living metres from school run out of town Aussie town
A criminal convicted of possessing child exploitation material was able to live metres away from a primary school, but locals have taken matters into their own hands.
A criminal convicted with a dark past living metres from a primary school has been run out of this regional town by community outrage.
Parolee Damien Bell, 53, was living in the South Australian town of Port Pirie but faced immense protest after locals found out he resided metres away from the local primary school.
Bell is a convicted criminal was was recently incarcerated for the possession of child exploitation material.
The Port Pirie community is outraged that a convicted sex offender was living a short walk away from children from 5 to 12 years of age.
Locals began to protest, and Bell was eventually taken away in a police wagon on Monday night to protect his own safety.
“There were multiple people that all banded together … even people that didn’t like (each other),” Port Pirie local Taylor Heweston told 7News, who aired footage of Bell being removed from Port Pirie address.
“They all got together and supported everyone to get this (criminal) out of our street.”
Bell living near the school was not a breach of parole conditions, and he is not accused of any wrongdoing.
This is because his conviction is only for possessing child exploitation material, not physical offending against children, according to the South Australian Parole Board.
However, locals say they should have been notified, and Bell should never have been allowed near children due to the nature of his conviction.
“We should’ve been notified about it … and he shouldn’t be so close to a school,” Another resident, Josh Radciffe said to 7News.
Port Pirie Local Ambrosia Oaklands-Kelly said it was “completely disgusting” that Bell was not prevented from living close to a school.
“I don’t know how they allow it,” she said.
His parole conditions do prevent him from loitering around schools, which he is not accused of doing.
News.com.au has uncovered that Bell was doxxed via aggressive Facebook posts in the days leading up to his being removed for his own safety, with people posting about the street he allegedly lived on with his “girlfriend” and the car the couple allegedly used.
A Facebook group has recently been dedicated to doxxing alleged sex offenders in the area.
Bell presents himself as a man of God on his Facebook page, frequently broadcasting religious teachings and moral tenets such as forgiveness.
“For those who don’t know, he died for us, for our sins,” he said in a video on his Facebook page.
It’s understood Bell has not returned to Port Pirie.