A prolific Warilla paedophile jailed for looking up graphic child pornography on the internet has begged an appeals court to release him early, claiming he has been targeted in prison because he is transgender.
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Scott Lee Irwin, who identifies as female and also goes by the name Sheryl, was sentenced to 18 months' jail with a 13-month non-parole period in Wollongong Local Court in September after he admitted breaching the conditions of an extended supervision order (ESO) for high-risk sex offenders.
Court documents said Irwin (pictured right) began molesting young boys in the mid-90s, after getting to know them through their families.
He even admitted he'd carried a "Santa suit" around to get easier access to the children.
He spent time behind bars for multiple sex offences and was placed on an ESO by the Supreme Court in 2014 after psychologists deemed him too high risk to be in the community without supervision.
He has since breached the ESO 11 times, landing him back behind bars on multiple occasions.
He was released on parole from his most recent custodial sentence on July 23, but had been out less than three weeks when he started looking up the illicit material.
In appealing his jail sentence last week, Irwin told Acting Judge Geoffrey Graham he would agree to more stringent conditions on his ESO if he could be released from custody early.
"Being a transgender inmate in prison is very hard," he said. "I've been bashed [and] sexually harassed."
He also claimed his ESO supervisor had "set him up" by giving him access to an internet-enabled phone.
However, Judge Graham remained convinced Irwin had received an appropriate sentence to begin with.
"It's clear he remains in significant need of personal deterrence in relation to his compliance with the law, particularly with the conditions of his order," he said.
"This offence fell in what seems to be a pattern of breaches stemming back some time.
"It seems to me in these circumstances that the appropriate sentence was that which was passed by the Local Court."
Irwin will be released to parole in October 2020.