A top prosecutor thinks community corrections orders should be scrapped

CRIMINALS who have committed some of the most cruel and depraved acts seem to be getting off lightly and a top prosecutor is fed up.

Man behind bars. Jail. Prison. Prisoner. Hands. Generic image.

ARE Victorian crims getting let off with a get out jail free card?

One top prosecutor thinks so, and is fed up with callous crooks only being slapped with a community corrections order, a punishment which allows criminals to stay in the community rather than go to jail.

You would be shocked to hear what disturbing cases are heard in the courts and criminals can walk free with a community corrections order as the only punishment.

The Herald Sun reports there have been more than 30,000 community corrections orders handed out in the past year, more than double the number given to crims in 2014.

Chief Crown Prosecutor Gavin Silbert, QC, doesn’t think community corrections orders are the answer.

Chief Crown Prosecutor Gavin Silbert, QC, thinks with so many dished out, breaches of these orders could start to overrun the County Court.

The Court of Appeal replaced suspended prison sentences with community corrections orders in Victoria in 2014, a new punishment for people who would have previously received a “medium” jail sentence.

Former Crown Prosecutor, Barrister Nick Papas, QC, told 3AW a community corrections order was not always the easy way out.

He said some orders required people to do community service or attend counselling, which some could see as more of a punishment than jail.

He did not believe the community corrections orders were a problem, but said the punishment would need to be reviewed if breaches did start overriding the courts.

Paedophiles, extortionists, attackers and even a principal who told a student to drug her parents have been able to walk free due to community corrections orders and these are just some of the shocking tales of people escaping jail.

PRINCIPAL TELLS STUDENT TO DRUG PARENTS

A Victorian principal became obsessed with a student who was completing Year 12 in 2013 and sent her 3500 text messages in just two months.

Late last month, the principal faced Melbourne Magistrates Court, where it was also revealed the former headmaster and student had sex between March and May 2013.

He had been sacked in January the same year and had an interim intervention order taken out against him in March when the parents found out he was sending the student sexual messages.

AAP reported he breached the order and sent the 17-year-old up to 167 messages a day between March 7 and May 3 and he encouraged her to climb out her bedroom window and over the back fence.

He also urged her to put sleeping pills in her parents’ food and said he was disappointed he couldn’t break her out of the “prison” where she lived.

He suggested drugging the parents twice.

The girl’s father told the court the relationship between the pair was like a nightmare that wouldn’t stop.

The girl said she was constantly looking over her shoulder, was in tears and had become alienated from her classmates.

The magistrate slapped the principal with a two-year community corrections order and 250 hours of community service.

A principal was sending a student explicit messages. Source: Supplied

DRUG USER BLACKMAILS OLD MAN ON GAY WEBSITE

A man who pleaded guilty to extorting money from a 73-year-old man he met on a gay dating website in December 2013, got let off with a two-year community corrections order.

The Herald Sun reported Ashley Tranter, 27, who had a habit for using ice and cannabis, threatened to tell police the old man had raped him and had sex with underage boys if he didn’t give him money.

Tranter moved into the victim’s house in March 2014 and over several months, the man gave Tranter more than $50,000.

The victim then kicked Tranter out in December and he started sending the old man text messages, demanding more money and threatening to go to the police with his lies if he didn’t pay up.

PAIR BASH INTELLECTUALLY DISABLED MAN

A man with an intellectual disability was brutally bashed for merely staring at a duo at a library.

In October last year, the victim was left bloodied, battered and bruised and was given a broken arm.

The victim was walking past the Belmont Library when Joshua Bunny, 31, and Emily Knight, 27, jumped him.

The Geelong Advertiser reported the victim told police he looked at the pair for about 10 seconds and Bunny yelled, “what are you f---ing looking at?”

As the victim kept walking, the pair followed.

The Geelong Advertiser reported Knight received only a nine-month community corrections order, with no community work required.

Bunny was slapped with a 12-month community corrections order with 50 hours community service.

An intellectually disabled man was attacked outside Geelong’s Belmont Library.

‘DEPRAVED’ CHILD GROOMER

A man who had hundreds of child pornography images escaped jail time with a four-year community corrections order and 250 hours of community service.

Earlier this month the court found the Mitcham man also groomed a minor for sexual activity.

The Whitehorse Leader reported nearly 300 photos and videos were recovered from his computer in August 2013, one even showed the rape of a six-year-old.

The man was also talking online to who he believed was a 13-year-old girl, but it turned out to be police. He was talking about masturbation.

A man had hundreds of child pornography images on his computer. Source: Getty Images

BACKYARD DENTIST

A man was running an illegal dental clinic from his garage in Melbourne, and there was a chance he infected his patients with hepatitis and HIV.

He was unregistered and could have been operating on patients since 2003, according to Sky News.

Muhammet Velipasaoglu was apparently working as a dentist in Turkey but had never held that position legally in Australia.

He also escaped jail and was given a 17-month community corrections order and was sentenced to 250 hours of community service.

Muhammet Velipasaoglu faced court over his dodgy dentistry. Picture: Kris Reichl