Early parole decision for man who pimped girl puts criminal's needs first, advocate says
Updated
An advocate for victims of crime has condemned the release on parole of a Tasmanian man who prostituted a 12-year-old girl to more than 100 men.
Gary John Devine was sentenced in 2010 to 10 years' prison with a non-parole period of eight years for prostituting the girl at a city hotel and his own home in Glenorchy, and sharing the proceeds with the girl's mother.
On May 25, the Parole Board approved Devine's early release, citing his good behaviour in prison and compliance with the terms of day release since 2016, but noted it was mindful of Devine's extensive history of offending and demonstrated inability to refrain from abusing drugs and alcohol.
Jim Franke, who founded the Victims of Crime Support Group last year, said Devine should have served his full sentence without parole.
"If you're in jail and you're a habitual criminal who re-offends all the time, how can the Parole Board gauge because you've been good in jail you're going to be a decent citizen on the outside?" he said.
"Violent repeat offenders should serve their full time without parole. That may sound tough but how many times have we been down this track?"
Mr Franke said in his experience, courts and parole boards gave disproportionate attention to the needs of offenders at the expense of those of victims.
"What about the girl whose life is never going to be the same? What about the family?" he said.
'Board was right to grant Devine parole'
In its decision, the Parole Board noted that Devine had been accepted into supported accommodation and had requested strict controls to his lifestyle and monitoring to ensure he avoided drugs and alcohol.
Prisoner advocate and barrister Greg Barns said the decision to parole Devine was appropriate.
"They've made the assessment with a prisoner who's been a model prisoner, who's done everything right within the prison system, who wants to have supervision and that's an important point — that he asked for supervision," Mr Barns said.
"In those circumstances, you ought to err on the side of giving a person parole."
Mr Barns said parole allowed prisoners to be supervised and supported while they rejoined the community and reduced the risk of them offending again.
"The alternative is that people do full term and go back into the community without supervision," he said.
"I'm not sure that's what the community wants or if it's a good idea for the community."
Under the terms of his parole, Devine will be subject to a curfew and will not be allowed to contact his victim or members of her family.
'Case highlights need for mandatory sentences'
Premier Will Hodgman said he understood community concern about the decision but the Parole Board was a statutory body and the Government could not intervene in its decisions.
"We've sought to ensure that they take on board the perspectives of victims, by having a victim's representative on the Parole Board that will assist, but it's ultimately a decision not made by government," he said.
Mr Hodgman said the case illustrated the need for mandatory sentences for serious child sex offences.
"I think it's important though that we do what we can to better empower courts to sentence those that commit serious crimes against children to jail," he said.
However, the charges Devine was convicted of were not included in the Sentencing Amendment (Mandatory Sentencing for Serious Sexual Offences Against Children) Bill 2017 that was rejected by Tasmania's Upper House last year.
Devine was convicted of procuring unlawful sexual intercourse with a young person, permitting unlawful sexual intercourse with a young person on premises, being a commercial operators of a sexual services business and receiving a fee derived directly from sexual services provided by a child in a sexual services business.
Topics: law-crime-and-justice, crime, hobart-7000, tas
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