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When is it safe to free this rapist?
THE notorious Bulli rapist who bound, gagged and raped women and children at knife-point is enjoying day release in preparation for his eventual freedom.
The idea of serial rapist Terry John Williamson, who terrorised a community during a 10-month rampage, being free to walk the streets is one that stirs strong emotions – about whether it is safe to release violent criminals once they have served their time.
Williamson is allowed out of jail up to twice a month to visit banks, supermarkets and post offices.
The State Parole Authority has granted the trips to prepare him for his return to the community, as early as May.
The last time he was released on bail, charged with sexual assault and abduction in 1990, he raped a 20-year-old Wollongong woman.
The dilemma for authorities with a sex offender like Williamson, now 41, is that to stall his release until the very end of his sentence, in 2014, would be to place the community at high risk of his reoffending.
"Many victims would never want the offender released from jail, I understand that," Parole Authority spokesman Robert Cosman said.
"But the reality is these people have been sentenced by a court to a certain length of time in jail.
"It is much safer to release a person on supervision. The statistics show that they are less likely to reoffend with supervision in the community than without it."
Williamson has undergone annual parole hearings since his minimum sentence expired in 2004. Now the Parole Authority wants him to be let out of jail unsupervised, on day release, before his parole to live in south-western Sydney. His next parole hearing is in March. Corrective Services Commissioner Ron Woodham has opposed his parole.
Williamson, whose victims included females aged from five to 42 and an 11-year-old boy, caused such fear during his rampage from 1989 to 1990 that police called meetings to calm the public.
He committed his assaults armed with a nine-centimetre knife and wearing a balaclava to cover his distinctive red hair. He attacked his younger victims in their beds.
Just over half of the Bulli rapist's victims, who have placed themselves on the voluntary NSW Victims Register to stay informed of his movements, are aware of his day leave.
Some wrote letters of complaint to the Serious Offenders Review Council, which oversees Williamson's case.
One woman, who was attacked in her home and then watched Williamson assault her five-year-old daughter, is said to be traumatised whenever he is let out.
However, she has supported the Parole Authority's handling of the case: that Williamson undergo day leave to help him adjust to community life and that when he is finally released from prison, he be on parole supervision and under strict conditions to reduce the likelihood of his striking again.
Williamson has previously been refused on the grounds that he may reoffend and was unable to adapt to normal, lawful life.
Currently, Williamson – a former truck driver who has undergone training courses in prison, including gaining a fork-lift driver's ticket – is allowed out of jail in the company of a Salvation Army officer and without a tracking anklet.
He has been taking anti-libidinal drugs to suppress his deviant sexual urges and has undergone a sex offender program.
Williamson has made dozens of trips out of jail and walked the streets of Bathurst, Lithgow and Katoomba, even visiting a museum.
When released, he is likely to live in one of Department of Corrective Services halfway houses or Community Offender Service programs, which provide 24-hour supervision, counselling and drug and alcohol testing.
When is it safe to free this rapist? Looming dilemma for the prison service
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