The Illawarra’s notorious serial rapist, Terry John Williamson, has walked out of Silverwater Correctional Centre this morning.
Williamson was paroled at 11am under strict conditions, including a ban from entering the Illawarra and a requirement he continue taking anti-libidinal medication.
He did not speak to a waiting media pack before being taken to Long Bay prison to have a monitoring bracelet fitted to his ankle.
A parole board granted the 42-year-old his freedom last month, after six unsuccessful bids for his release since 2004.
Despite the stringent terms and two-year supervision period, Victims of Crime Assistance League NSW vice-president Howard Brown told the Mercury last month he feared the convicted rapist would strike again.
"I don’t like his chances; some people think anti-libidinal medication is a cure-all, but it does not prevent reoffending," he said after last month’s parole hearing.
"It’s basically a device to decrease sex drive but there’s a misconception about sex offences; they’re predominantly not about sex, they’re more about anger, aggression and trying to maintain power.
"All the medication does is provide a physical reduction but that’s not the point, it doesn’t address the degradation ... [Williamson] led a rampage for quite some time ... people who think anti-libidinal medication is the answer are kidding themselves."
At the expiry of Williamson’s parole period in 2014, the former Corrimal labourer will no longer be subject to supervision or the board’s conditions, meaning he could return to the region.
Williamson has served almost 22 years’ jail for the appalling rape and sexual assault of 11 victims, including children as young as five, which occurred during his nine-month reign of terror in Wollongong’s northern suburbs.
Williamson preyed on women and children during his sexual rampage, often attacking his victims inside their homes or beds at knifepoint.
Wearing a balaclava to hide his distinctive red hair, Williamson began his spree in August 1989, forcing a 13-year-old girl to strip and have sex with him in the grounds of Bulli High School.
He struck again the following month, snatching a 15-year-old girl from her Bulli home and raping her in a nearby park.
In November, Williamson changed tactics, kidnapping an 11-year-old boy from his bed before he drove him to Mt Kembla bushland where he sexually assaulted and dumped him.
Two months went by without any sign of the serial assailant until February 1990 when Williamson struck twice in a matter of days, raping a 24-year-old woman in her home before assaulting a Russell Vale teen in her bed.
When he attacked for a sixth time on March 22, his victim was a five-year-old girl who he sexually assaulted when he noticed his intended victim, her mother, was seven months pregnant.
After failed attempts to assault four other women, Williamson was arrested on May 4 and appeared in court the next day, only to be granted bail on condition he remain at his parents’ home.
Just one week later, Williamson broke his bail and raped a 20-year-old Wollongong woman before he was recaptured and put in jail.
In 1991 Williamson was sentenced to a maximum 24 years’ jail after pleading guilty to 19 charges of sexual assault, threatening actual bodily harm and entering a dwelling with intent to have sexual intercourse.
Ordering Williamson to serve a 10-year parole period, Justice Ray Loveday said the lengthy term was to allow the serial offender "adequate time to integrate into the community".
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