BishopAccountability.org
	Name, Shame Sex Offenders By Derryn Hinch Herald Sun May 31, 2008 http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23784840-5000117,00.html IT is more than 20 years since I went to jail, first to Pentridge then Morwell, for being in contempt of court after trying to alert parents to the predatory behaviour of evil priest Michael Glennon. His victims included teenage boys who attended his karate school and his camps in Lancefield and a 10-year-old girl he raped. Despite time in jail for that crime, he remained a Catholic priest for years. I have thought about that a lot in recent days as this newspaper has gone to court - on your behalf -- to try to get suppression orders lifted that are protecting the identities of a serial rapist, who once terrorised this city and may again, and one of the worst recidivist pedophiles in this country's history. It is a travesty that, legally, the media cannot publish their names, their photographs and (in some cases) the names of their notorious accomplices. And what makes it worse is that these menaces to society are now benefiting from laws that were supposedly designed to protect the community they prey on. These depraved degenerates are using extended supervision orders, which were originally designed to keep tabs on them after their release from prison, to preserve their anonymity. Why? To help with their rehabilitation. People who support suppression orders in such cases overlook the fact that they are subjected to an ESO only if they are likely to reoffend when released. The sick irony is that we applauded when the Government appeared to get tough on sex offenders. Last month it said it was amending the 2005 Serious Sex Offenders Monitoring Act so the secretary of the Department of Justice could apply to the County or Supreme Court for a supervision order where a sex offender was assessed as posing a serious risk to the community of reoffending. Premier John Brumby said the offenders could be forced to accept curfews and restrictions on travel, changing addresses, and where they worked and lived. Nobody mentioned to us that some were returning to the community incognito without the public knowing who they were, where they were, or what they were up to. They didn't trumpet that minor point. Murderers don't get their names suppressed when they complete their sentences and leave jail. Why should the rapists of women and children? Sadly, we don't have a Megan's Law in this country. In the US, I can go on the internet and punch in my home area code. Through their sex offenders' register, I can find out how many convicted sex offenders there are in my neighbourhood. When I was sentenced to jail 20 years ago, thousands of people, in a symbol of support, tied yellow ribbons to their car aerials. I believe it is time to drag out the yellow ribbons again. At noon tomorrow I am holding a "Name Them and Shame Them" rally on the steps of Parliament to send our lawmakers a message and to collect signatures on a petition reading: "We, the undersigned, demand the Victorian Parliament change the laws so that a judge or magistrate cannot suppress the identity of a serious sex offender unless such identification will also identify a victim." It is such common sense it shouldn't even be an issue. I was once asked if I thought I had achieved anything by going to jail. My response then applies now: If we save one victim, it was worth it. If one victim looks out over a sea of people on Sunday and thinks, "people care", it will be worth it. Broadcaster Derryn Hinch has listed the Name Them and Shame Them petition with the international website gopetition. www.gopetition.com/petitions/name-them-and-shame-them.html
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