The Case of Dennis Ferguson

Dennis Ferguson was convicted in July 1987 after being found guilty of offences of carnal knowledge of children eight and under, and sodomy and sexual interference. The Judge noted Dennis Ferguson had a long list of previous offences. He appeared in the Yasmar Children's Court, aged 15 where he was deemed a neglected child, and briefly taken into care. At the age of 20 he was charged with offensive behavior (removing pants from a model in a store). Most of the later multiple offenses for which he received convictions over the years related to fraud and theft. Prior to 1987 Dennis had already been jailed for both indecent assault and indecent dealings with children.

Dennis Ferguson served every single day of his 14 year sentence. Due to his unwillingness to attend Sexual Offender Treatment Programs in prison he was granted no earlier release date. Part of the conditions for inclusion in these programs is an admission of guilt, which Dennis would not, at the time give. In January 2003 the 14 years were up, Dennis Ferguson had, "done the crime and done his time". And just the day before he was released the DPP (Department of Public Prosecutions) successfully applied for a Supreme Court Order that Ferguson must report his address to police every time he moved during the next 15 years.

Since his release Dennis has been constantly trailed and exposed by the Media. As Terry O'Gorman from the Australian Council for Civil Liberties reports, "This is a man who'd been in jail for 14 years with no media experience, who just walked out the front gate of the prison and the corrective services people in effect said to the media, there he is. Go for it, and like a pack of wild dogs they did".

Around five months after Dennis Ferguson was released a new law called the Dangerous Prisoners Sexual Offenders Act came into force in Queensland, which was the first of its kind in this country. It allows a Court to order sex offenders back to jail beyond their release date, even though no further crime has been committed. As Patrick Keyzer, Professor of Law at Bond University in Queensland points out the legislation inflicts double punishment. Patrick Keyzer was part of a legal team that challenged the legislation all the way to the High Court, and lost and under this new law sex offenders assessed as high risk by two psychiatrists can be made subject to strict supervision orders after their release or kept in jail for further indefinite detention.

His stint out of prison did not last long either as he was put back into custodial custody again in 2005 for the next fifteen months when he was detained on a charge that he was later found to be innocent of committing. Since 2003 Dennis has had at least eleven different homes and he has been perpetually trailed and hounded resulting in his being ejected from all of them. His name and whereabouts are rarely out of the media eye here in Australia for too long, and this is despite the fact that in New South Wales alone over 2,000 registered child sex offenders have been released and have themselves managed to live unnoticed in the community during the same period of time. Many of them have committed crimes as serious as Ferguson's, and more recently.

As soon as someone in the local community gains knowledge that he is living in the neighborhood there is quickly an hysterical public outcry that successfully drives him from his home. People have remarkable reactions to the knowing that a sex offender is living nearby. The spectrum of sex offences if very wide and indeed most sex crimes are committed by people close to the victim. In fact I would hazard to guess that perhaps each and every one of you reading this article knows and encounters on a regular basis at least one sex offender. Imagine that!!

What we need to be doing is looking out for and recognizing dangerous patterns of behavior instead of automatically becoming completely irrational and hysterical just at the thought of it. Dennis Ferguson admitted to and talked bout his crimes on national television and himself said that he only offends against children known to him and with whom he has some form of contact with the parents of. This is not atypical and goes to reinforce my statement about learning to recognise dangerous behavioral markers.

International research on recidivism rates of the type of offenders that Dennis is suggest that about 15 per cent of child sex offenders will re-offend within the next four to five years. And about 24 or 25 per cent would re-offend within about 15 years (Stephen Smallbone). Also recidivism rates go down as the offender ages.

Dennis has, at times been housed by charitable Church run groups, some of whom have been prepared to monitor him completely and the charities involved have been unprepared even to admit publicly to this. They have even asked the staff to sign confidentiality papers and not even inform their closest family members. To me it appears obvious that the public need to be engaged and educated in the matters of sexual offences against children. One of the best housing scenarios Dennis was given was living in the central CBD of a major city. There he managed to become more anonymous and also there are not usually many children in the CBD. If sex offenders are not given a chance to develop more healthy relationships with people they are forced into living with 'prison mates' in possible sex offender 'enclaves'

Dennis Ferguson is now a sick and frail, near blind old man. It is unlikely he poses much threat these days. I think the public should be far more concerned with somehow being involved in the possible rehabilitation and apprehension (when necessary) of some of those 2,000 or so younger, and far more dangerous sex offenders who have slipped their notice. Though such sex crimes often provoke a visceral anger response I think everyone needs to be become acquainted with the underpinning principles of restorative justice and also become committed to themselves learning how to conduct far more humane and peaceful every day relationships. Doing so would, in part enable them to become more aware of any 'funny goings-on'. If any of us are, in any way, abusive towards others then we are much less likely to notice other forms of abuse that may be occurring in front of our very own eyes.

The crowds of loud, noisy, intolerant and abusive mobsters such as those who have harassed, confronted and harangued Dennis Ferguson are on his level, and perhaps even below it at this point in time. To them I say "learn to recognise the unseen offenders who live right with you in your own circle'. For more information about the restorative justice paradigm read here.

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