I was hesitant to post about this because I didn’t want it to seem like this blog was turning into one big paedophile defence, but, well… Australia, we need to have a chat. About Denis.
Denis Ferguson, possibly Australia’s most infamous paedophile, is also Australia’s least-wanted neighbour.
This man, who served 14 years in gaol for kidnapping and sexually assaulting three children in 1987, is the subject of a media circus that follows a depressing cycle: he moves in, the media search until they find him, the community is whipped (or whip themselves) into a frenzy of outrage, he moves into new accomodation…
The reality is that for better or for worse he has served his time, and no matter where he lives now there will always be children nearby.
While I understand the fear of the parents who live in his neighbourhood, their fear being understandable does not neccessarily make it, or their actions, justifiable.
As such, the way the media encourage the escalation of the neighbourhood anger is disgraceful. Each time a “resident” (although who knows how close any of these people even live to the man) puts up a sign or does another stunt you can feel the glee as the assembled media pack encourage them in the way you would a performing child.
The actions of some – certainly not all – residents, be it placing signs on his house, delivering coffins to his door or throwing alleged petrol bombs onto his lawn, go too far and should be treated with the same negative reaction by media and police that they would be treated with if they were directed at any other “free” member of society.
This escaltion is only going to end badly – already there have been reports this morning that a man was stabbed outside Mr Ferguson’s house last night – if no-one acts to try and put out this fire rather than just standing by and letting it burn or even actively adding fuel to it.
To see how out-of-hand this paedophile vigilantism can get, we need only to remember the case from 2000 in which a UK paediatrician had her home vandalised and her windows smashed by angry locals who reportedly “confused the words ‘paediatrician’and ‘paedophile’.”
Amy is a Sydney-based journalist and commentator with an interest in politics, music, culture and evidence-based medicine.
She is currently working as a medical journalist for a series of "Specialist Update" websites, and she has also been published in The Sydney Morning Herald, Crikey, New Matilda, and Vibewire's anthology "Interface".
She was a panelist with the Sydney Writers' Festival in 2007 and 2008, organised the Sydney Writers' Festival event "erotic fan fiction" in 2009, and is a regular broadcaster on FBi radio.
There are probably hundreds of people like dennis ferguson living in the community around australia. They are closely monitored by the police and probation and parole, they have strict conditions placed on their place of residence, their day to day movements and who they associate with. These conditions do not go away when they finish their probation period, they are there for life. Most of them have served their time and abide by their conditions and mostly their neighbours do not know anything about them. Dennis Ferguson’s problem is that he is very distinctive looking, I would go so far as to say that he looks like what most people would think a paedophile looks like, and the media have latched on to him. We will never know if he is rehabilitated because he will never get the opportunity to demonstrate that he can live within the community.
Now, dont get me wrong here, I in no way condone what ferguson has done, but he has served the sentence that was imposed on him, and appears to have tried to live within the parole conditions. It seems to me that people should be protesting not about where he lives but about the inadequate sentence that put him back into society in the first place.
Absolutely. The fact of Ferguson being a paedophile who looks so much like a paedophile must be a big factor in this.
I was wondering about the story that came out yesterday with Centrelink helping him connect with his partner from his crime – why isn’t the partner chased down in the same way as Ferguson is? Is it because he looks less creepy?
Tony: You imply that most former offenders who’ve served their time are benign and under control. Are you aware that Ferguson’s last 14-year term was his sixth conviction for child m*lestation?
James, I dont think I am implying that, what I way tring to say is that if they must live in the community (and they have served the court imposed penalty) then they should be kept under close scrutiny – that is what keeps them from re-offending. As i said in the last line of my post what people should be protesting about is not where he lives but the fact that he is out at all thanks to an inadequate sentence – the law has said that he is fit to rejoin society.
I note that there is legislation being rushed through to evict ferguson ( and other like him) from public housing. I havent read the proposed legislation but my fear with this is that by not being placed in public housing some of these paedophiles may become homeless and then how do we keep tabs on them?
I think we do have to remember, too, that child abuse is a big problem but the vast majority of people who commit these crimes are people known to the child. Placing all this attention on one man seems to me to divert from the real issue/problem somewhat.
Oh right, James, I just saw that you made that very comment (that I just made) on the Crikey blog!
Amy, that’s exactly not the point I tried to make. The point I tried to make is that Ferguson’s human rights are independent of his merits or otherwise as a human being. And I objected to those trying to relativize the evil of raping other people’s children as compared to the evil of raping one’s own children.
Thanks for the clarification Tony. I agree with you there. The question of “rehabilitation” is controversial at the best of times, and is academic in this case, since Ferguson never admitted guilt and never participated in treatment. He is subject to limited police supervision for the next 15 years, not quite the rest of his life.
It depends what state you are in, once on the NSW child protection register you stay there for life.
You’re right, I stand corrected on that point. The 15 years was in Queensland before he moved here.