RESIDENTS at a public forum have been told the security surrounding convicted sex offenders housed at Corella Place cannot be tightened substantially without a change in legislation.
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Victoria Police held the meeting last Thursday night to address community concerns expressed in the aftermath of another escape from the centre.
Last week a convicted sex offender – whose name has been suppressed by the courts – cut off his GPS ankle monitor and left the facility.
Northern Grampians Police inspector Ian Lindsay told the meeting the man might have holed up in a farm shed about 25 kilometres outside of Ararat.
It is alleged the man was in possession of a firearm stolen from a vehicle on the property when he was confronted by a farmer later in the morning.
“Also in proximity was a machete or tomahawk,” Inspector Lindsay said. “He returned those items and the property owner questioned his presence.”
The man, who is believed to be at least the seventh Corella Place escapee since 2010, was arrested after 12 hours on the run near the Beaufort Railway Station.
Corella Place houses some of the state’s worst sex offenders following their release from prison but, unlike a jail, has only limited security.
CCTV surveillance runs 24/7 and residents are required to wear GPS monitoring bracelets, but only five of the facility’s 100 staff work at night when most escapes occur.
Several residents attending the meeting called for security to be brought more in line with what would be expected at a prison.
“No offence, but I think their doors should be locked so they can get out at one o’clock in the morning,” one woman said.
However, Inspector Lindsay stressed that Corella Place was a facility designed to help offenders who had done their time in prison transition back into the community.
“It is not a prison, it is a secure environment,” Inspector Lindsay said. “There is no locked door, locked gate. We have to work within the legislation.”
Many of the meeting’s attendees expressed disquiet over which of the area’s residents near Corella Place were alerted to the escape and how long it took for the message to be delivered.
Some attendees called for an app to be developed to alert residents when there was a confirmed escape, while others suggested sirens be sounded whenever the GPS ankle monitors are removed.
However, Corella Place managing director Andrew Burger warned a prison break-style siren would be impractical.
“That siren might well be going off 10 times overnight – that’s the reality,” he said.
