Freed pedophile lashes out, The Australian, 16 December, 2004.
Freed pedophile lashes out: [1 All-round Country Edition]
Stapleton, John. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 16 Dec 2004: 5.
Abstract
[Dennis Ferguson] can spend the next fortnight travelling unchecked within NSW before his next report. He has two weeks to return to his most recent address or inform authorities of a new place of residence, according to the NSW Attorney-General's Department.
"It's thanks to the vigilance of NSW police and our tough laws that Dennis Ferguson has had to serve this 15-month sentence in NSW," Mr [John Watkins] said.
Full Text
NOTORIOUS pedophile Dennis Ferguson was released yesterday, after his latest jail stint, and triggered a near brawl as he tried to avoid the media spotlight.
Ferguson emerged to a waiting media scrum yesterday morning when he left the John Morony Correctional Centre at Windsor in Sydney's west, having served a 15-month term. He tried to dodge cameras as he was escorted to a waiting vehicle, kicking out at photographers before being bundled into the back of a Corrective Services vehicle.
He was then driven to nearby Windsor train station, with camera crews in pursuit. With no one to meet him and carrying only two plastic bags with his possessions, he cut a sad and lonely figure as he kept seeking protection from a barrage of questions, sitting first on a platform bench, then moving about thestation with police trying to keep order.
Ferguson can spend the next fortnight travelling unchecked within NSW before his next report. He has two weeks to return to his most recent address or inform authorities of a new place of residence, according to the NSW Attorney-General's Department.
NSW Police Minister John Watkins said police would be "watching his every move", but neither the police nor the minister could say where Ferguson might head once he'd been dropped at Windsor station.
After two weeks, his bail conditions require him to advise police of where he will live and work.
Originally imprisoned in Queensland for 14 years for sexually molesting three young children in a Brisbane hotel room, Ferguson was again jailed in NSW in November last year after he breached conditions requiring him to disclose employment that may bring him into contact with children.
He was picked up only months after his release when he tried to sell cleaning products to a school.
"It's thanks to the vigilance of NSW police and our tough laws that Dennis Ferguson has had to serve this 15-month sentence in NSW," Mr Watkins said.