Repeat sex offender, 57, who had sex with a 15-year-old girl is allowed to umpire children's footy games
- A repeat sex offender is allowed to continue to umpire junior AFL games
- The offender was convicted of sexual penetration of a female aged under 16
- He was also caught masturbating in public and exposed himself to a woman
- He is allowed to umpire due to a 'glowing reference' from a senior AFL member
A repeat sex offender who slept with a 15-year-old girl has been allowed to continue umpiring junior football games.
The umpire, 57, has a long history of offending which includes sexual penetration of a minor and stalking.
But he is allowed to continue umpiring after reportedly being given a glowing reference from a 'very senior person in the AFL'.
The name of the umpire and the senior AFL figure must be kept secret, the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal has ruled.
A repeat sex offender who had sex with a 15-year-old girl is allowed to continue umpire junior AFL games, despite having a long history of offending
Documents seen by the Herald Sun reveal that the offender, 57, had been committing the offences for years.
The tribunal decided the man was allowed to obtain a working with children permit as long as he vowed not to 'pose an unjustifiable risk to the safety of the children'.
VCAT deputy president Ian Proctor said the reference from the senior person in the AFL was used as evidence on the offender's behalf.
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'By way of reference and through his oral evidence before me in this proceeding, this referee strongly supported him being given an assessment notice,' Mr Proctor said.
The AFL figure said he knew the offender for 20 years.
'He said that if there was concern about the offender's conduct over the years in that context, he would know about it,' Mr Proctor said.
The offender was convicted of sexual penetration of a female under 16 in 1984, but said he was in a relationship with the 15-year-old girl, thinking she was older.
When he applied for a working with children permit in 2009 he was refused, before successfully appealing the decision to VCAT.
The offender, who cannot be named due to legal reasons, is allowed to continue umpiring children's football matches because of a reference from a 'very senior person in the AFL'
He then lost the permit in 2010, when he was convicted of following a woman, offering her $20 for sex and then exposing himself while sat in his car.
The offender was immediately placed on the sex offenders register and was charged before he was sentenced to a 24-month community corrections order.
In 2013, he was charged with wilful and obscene exposure in public, with police saying he was found masturbating in a public park.
He defended his actions by saying he was urinating and the case was dismissed.
In the same year he once again appealed for a working with children permit, but VCAT said he was at risk of 'uncontrolled, inappropriate and harmful behaviour'.
However, Mr Proctor has this time granted the application as he believes the offender no longer poses a risk.
'Public interest is not in my view served by saying once a person has taken a wrong turn, that person can never be redeemed,' he said.
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