A convicted paedophile once linked to an global online child pornography ring has confessed to breaching child protection legislation by hosting nudist parties at his Illawarra home on Easter Sunday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The man, who cannot be named or identified for legal reasons, is banned from associating with nudist groups under strict court orders imposed after he used his involvement in the online naturalist community to prey on and sexually abuse two young children in 2010.
He was sentenced to four-and-a-half years' jail at the time and placed on the Child Protection Register.
He was subsequently released on parole in February 2018, at which time police successfully applied to have the man further monitored under a five-year Child Protection Prohibition Order (CPPO).
The court order includes conditions preventing the man from participating in nudist groups or associating with people linked to nudist groups amid concerns he could get access to children and reoffend.
Meanwhile, the man moved to the Illawarra in November 2018 and reported his new address to Lake Illawarra Police Station as part of his obligations under the Child Protection Register.
Court documents said detectives were carrying out routine inspections of registered people when they attended the man's home on the afternoon of April 21 this year.
They reported seeing multiple tarps set up in a bid to conceal a small outdoor area next to the house.
When asked about the tarps, the man told police he had friends coming to visit and didn't want them to be cold.
Police also gained access to the man's mobile phone and discovered he had accessed two social media sites - Meetup and True Nudist - in breach of the conditions of his CPPO.
Police left the house but decided to return later that evening, suspecting the man may be trying to host a nudist party.
They said when they returned around 7pm they heard voices coming from inside the cordoned-off area.
They then heard the offender recount the story of their earlier arrival to his friends: "I had just finished putting the tarps up and I was sitting out here naked having a beer when I heard a knocked at the door. I put my emergency shorts on and answered the door and it was two detectives wanting a statement about something that happened at work. Can you believe that? On a Sunday afternoon at Easter".
Officers knocked on the front door and the man answered a minute later - wearing only shorts.
When asked about the gathering, the man admitted he had three people over - two men and a female - and they were all naked.
When told his CPPO conditions prevented him from having contact with nudist or participating in nudist groups, the man told police the trio weren't a group, "they're my friends, they are all adults".
Asked about his use of social media, the man said his psychologist had told him to go on Meetup because he was lonely.
Detectives ordered the man to end the party and send his guests home.
Further investigations revealed the man had hosted multiple nudist parties since moving to the area including a house warming party attended by a married couple from Campbelltown, a man from Figtree and a man from Bellambi, all of whom were fellow nudists.
The man was arrested and charged with six counts of contravening the CPPO. His parole has since been revoked.
He pleaded guilty to the charges during his first court appearance at Port Kembla on Wednesday.
He will be sentenced in Wollongong Local Court on Friday.
