Paedophile alert

By Nathan Johnston
ONE convicted paedophile has been identified and another is set to be revealed on two sex crime alert web sites.
A man from Noble Park has already been revealed and another from Dandenong is set to be listed on the sites.
Operators of the sites say the public has the right to know the whereabouts of convicted paedophiles.
The Noble Park man pleaded guilty to six counts of committing an indecent act and three charges of sexual penetration of a child aged between 10 and 16 in 1992 when the man was 68 years old.
The Movement Against Kindred Offenders (MAKO) has listed the man’s name and his Noble Park address, and also details about his offences.
It has listed the details of several other convicted paedophiles living around Victoria and Australia.
On its website, MAKO states the purpose of the list is to promote public awareness and to protect people from the dangers posed by committed sex offenders.
It also warns the community against taking vigilante action against those listed.
Noel McNamara from the Crime Victims Support Association (CVSA) said a man living in Dandenong would soon be listed on his organisation’s website.
He said the CVSA would list the names regardless of State Government opposition.
“If the government is not going to provide that information, we’ll make it our top priority.
“People have a right to know that they are going to get a rock spider living in their area.
“The idea is to warn people. We don’t want lynch mobs out there trying to get them. We just want people to be aware that they are in their area.”
Mr McNamara said sex crimes against children were every parent’s worst nightmare.
“Children are easy to get at, and these are cunning people who know how to entrap the vulnerable.
“It can happen to anyone, whether it’s your child, a relative, or a neighbour.”
City of Greater Dandenong’s Cleeland Ward councillor Paul Donovan also backed the move to identify the offenders.
“It’s probably a good idea that the community know, provided it doesn’t result in people seeking vigilante justice.
“Ideally, people who commit a crime and have served time in prison should be able to carry on with their lives, but if these people who are listed are reoffenders, then the community has the right to know.”
Acting Senior Sergeant Michael Henry from the police media department urged people not to take matters into their own hands.
“We don’t want to encourage vigilante behaviour, or any behaviour that will put people in danger or cause them to break the law,” he said.