Serial rapist Robert John Fardon free to visit sex spa

A notorious Queensland serial rapist is a free man after being released from a supervision order by a Supreme Court judge.

Convicted rapist Robert John Fardon, filmed travelling on a train. Picture: Channel 9

A notorious Queensland serial rapist is a free man after being released from a supervision order by a Supreme Court judge, in a decision that revealed he was already visiting a “day spa” for sex with the approval of authorities.

Robert John Fardon’s sexual offending stretches back to the 1960s and includes the rape of a 12-year-old girl at a party he had called to celebrate his wife giving birth. He was released on parole for that crime, only to rape another woman the same year.

Fardon’s age, 70, was cited as a key factor in lifting the supervision order, along with advice from three psychiatrists that he was a low risk of reoffending.

His freedom in the community was kept secret for a week under a court gag order.

One of his victims, Sharon Tomlinson, who was raped at gunpoint when she was 12, said last night she would “never feel safe until he was dead”.

Police Commissioner Ian Stewart said Fardon’s progression to release showed “the system works” and that there was hope for rehabilitation. But there was anger from the state opposition and child protection campaigners. “He’s conned them all,” said Bravehearts founder Hetty Johnston.

When initially released from prison on the supervision order in 2013, Fardon was under a 24-hour curfew. Conditions were gradually eased, allowing him to go to shops, prison fellowship BBQs, fishing trips and later to roam widely as long as he gave notice of his plans. By February last year he had not only travelled on a train and used a Go Card for the first time, he was being allowed to visit a male day spa “to meet his sexual needs”.

Fardon has been living in Queensland Corrective Services accommodation at Wacol, in Brisbane’s west.

GRAPHIC: The Fardon file

The Nine Network last night reported that it had tracked him to a new home, in a street with a “large number of children”. Residents had not been warned he was living there. He was also filmed travelling on a train.

Judge Helen Bowskill suppressed her judgment, made last Wednesday, until yesterday so media and public scrutiny would not hamper arrangements.

“I am not satisfied that the evidence establishes to the requisite high degree of probability that the respondent is a serious danger to the community in the absence of a further supervision order,” Justice Bowskill said.

Fardon craved being unshackled from the supervision order, with the judgment detailing his anger and frustration at the slow progress of conditions being ­removed.

With the order lifted, he can no longer be monitored via GPS tracking. However, he is a “reportable offender” for life under tough laws that were introduced as his full community release loomed.

These laws require him to tell police where he lives and travels, details of his contact with children and details of his phone and internet connections, social media accounts and passwords.

If police are concerned by his conduct, they can ask a court to force him to wear a GPS tracker again and to live at a specified address, among other conditions.

Justice Bowskill said Fardon had complied with the supervision order for more than five years and had abstained from drugs and alcohol. She said objective data showed the risk of offending decreased with age, that Fardon had not been convicted of a criminal offence for more than 30 years and that he had been progressively moving about the community since his release.

There was “no evidence of ongoing sexual preoccupation”. Fardon’s “main challenge” would be media scrutiny, which would make the transition to ordinary life difficult.

Fardon had a heart attack in September but refused to go to hospital, citing concerns about being identified and attracting media attention. His supervision order was due to expire in October but the state government won a last-ditch appeal to extend it.

Mr Stewart declined to say how his police officers would monitor Fardon. “I do not condone the actions of this person,” he said. “But the system we run as a state is one that is designed to try and assist people to try and make better decisions to become members of our society that don’t offend. That’s what’s occurring in this case.”

Bruce Morcombe, whose son Daniel was abducted and murdered by serial child-sex offender Brett Cowan in 2003, disagrees.

“God save our kids! Fardon is a shocker,” Mr Morcombe wrote on social media. “Children are at risk. No supervision orders and GPS tracker? Good luck with that! I feel less safe than a week ago.”

Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington hit out at the secrecy surrounding the judgment and said the LNP’s proposed laws would force sex offenders to wear GPS trackers for life.

Ms Tomlinson told Brisbane newspaper The Courier Mail that Fardon’s victims had been given a life sentence. “When I found out there there was no GPS tracker, all bets were off for me,” she said. “It’s so frightening that I could run into him on a train, in a shopping centre. I have to be super vigilant. We will never feel safe until he is dead.”