Victoria’s Worst Sexual Predators Strike Again Despite Treatment
A three-year investigation by the Herald Sun into the facility run by the Disability Forensic Assessment and Treatment Service (DFATS) revealed that sexual predators freed back into the community from the facility are reoffending at alarming rates.
These sexual predators underwent treatment hoping that they can be treated for their mental illness. However, after graduating from the treatment and being freed back into the community, these sexual predators continued to sexually assault children, engaged in obscene phone calls to schools and obtained child pornography online.
According to the report, the government can confirm that 76 men underwent treatment since 1990. Out of these 76 men, 14 men committed more sex crimes.
Surprisingly, the program costed $6.3 million a year - this was despite being able to treat only about 12 men at a time.
What was worse was that taxpayers' money was used to pay the pensions of these men.
Despite these alarming problem with these sexual predators on the loose, Mental health Minister Mary Woolbridge said that closing the treatment programme was never an option.
"DFATS is not a prison or custodial setting. It is a treatment facility that provides intensive treatment and education for people with an intellectually disability," Ms Woolbridge stated.
The Government emphasised that there is a 60 per cent rate of reoffending if these men do not undergo the treatment programme.
"If these sex offenders continue to prey on women and children they ought to be removed from the community. They should be institutionalised until the day arrives that it can be guaranteed they are 100 per cent safe to be released back into the community. If that day never arrives, it's bad luck for them," Sen-Sgt Greg Davies said.
Dr Freda Briggs put emphasis on the fact that these freed sexual predators remained "very dangerous" unless treatment can go as far as treatment from drug addiction.
Herald Sun identified some of the sexual predators freed from the program and the sexual assaults they did after being freed.
One of these sexual predators was allowed back into the community unaccompanied after sexually assaulting his sister, male cousin and three-year-old daughter.
One indentified as Darren Russel Seiler, 32, escaped DFATS, grabbed a 5-year-old girl from a sports stadium and assaulted her right then and there. He had been sent back to DFATS but after release, he molested a child under 16 years old.
A 30-year-old sexual predator after being released from the facility, fled Victoria, and engaged in child pornography from his residence at Ararat.