Notorious pedophile Bradley Pen Dragon will be released from prison in a few hours.
The 62-year-old, who has spent half his life behind bars, will be released from prison on Tuesday despite having “significant unmet treatment needs” and believing his sexual interest in children is ” natural”.
Upon release, the convicted pedophile – who has a ‘strong belief that sexual contact with children is a positive experience for the child’ – will be placed on a 10-year supervision order and will be subject to 62 strict conditions.
As a serious high-risk offender, it is hoped that the range of measures will protect the community “against the unacceptable risk” that Dragon will commit another serious offence.
Some of his conditions include anti-libidinal and psychological treatment, reporting his planned daily movements to authorities, and no unauthorized contact with anyone under the age of 18.
Dragon, who has been diagnosed with a non-exclusive type “pedophile disorder” (i.e. he is attracted to both girls and boys) will also be subject to GPS surveillance.
Earlier this month, WA Police Commissioner Chris Dawson said he shared the public’s concern “with the release of a repeat pedophile into the community” but promised police would keep a watchful eye. close to Dragon as soon as he was released from prison.
“We will have to make sure that we are monitoring and we will, very very closely,” he said.
“I can assure you…we are very vigilant in our work with high risk serious offender groups; there are very strict conditions and we will do everything we can to protect the community.
Premier Mark McGowan made similar comments, saying “if he breaks them (the conditions) he will go back to custody”.
“He will be watched like a hawk,” he said.
WA Liberal leader David Honey said the news of Dragon’s release was “extremely disturbing”.
“It’s very clear that this is a long-term child delinquent…it’s hard to see why his behavior would change given his huge long history in this area,” he said.
Attorney General John Quigley said: ‘It is always a concern when an offender with a serious criminal history is released, however, under the Constitution it is not possible to keep people locked up forever. beyond their pain.”
Dragon was due to be released from prison in December after serving his final sentence for accessing child pornography at a Perth hostel just days after being released from prison for another violent crime.
But he had been held in custody on a remand order under the Serious High-Risk Offenders Act until Supreme Court Justice Larissa Strk issued a ruling on his future on Tuesday.
Under the Act, a person may be subject to a detention order or continued supervision after the expiration of their sentence if they are considered an unacceptable risk to the community.
Judge Strk ruled that Dragon should not be kept in custody indefinitely, but should instead be placed under strict supervision for the next decade, which will include GPS monitoring.
“After weighing all the evidence, I am satisfied that the risk which is presented by releasing the respondent on a supervision order can be reduced or protected to a reasonably acceptable level and will provide adequate protection to the community,” Judge Strk said. said.
Experts said Dragon had “unmet treatment needs” and Judge Strk found there were “more resources available” to meet those needs in the community than in prison.
Judge Strk warned Dragon that there were “serious consequences” for any violation of the 62 conditions.
Earlier this month it was revealed that the dangerous pedophile, who has spent 31 years of his life behind bars, had been given accommodation ahead of his release date – ahead of hundreds of families stuck on the waiting list of WA social housing.
At the time, Community Services Minister Simone McGurk acknowledged that while those families might feel frustrated by the move, it was important that authorities could properly monitor him when he was released from prison.
He received housing assistance through a non-profit organization that is unrelated to the state government and the house is privately rented.
It came after Mr McGowan assured people that ‘homeswest does not provide him with property’.
Dragon has a decades-long criminal history that began in 1982 and spans several states, including New South Wales, Queensland and also Thailand (where he was first convicted of an offence). sex in the early 1990s).
In 1997, Dragon was imprisoned for 13 years for his “prolonged and depraved” abuse of young girls.
After his release and settling in WA, Dragon served time in prison following his conviction for possession of child exploitation material on several occasions between 2007 and 2010.
Dragon was then jailed for five years for brandishing a knife at a young mother as she placed her 11-month-old daughter in the back of a car at Mt Lawley in 2012. Dragon was given his final sentence, four years and four months in jail, for accessing child pornography at a Perth hostel just two days after he was released from jail for another violent offense in 2017.