The Secrecy Law Scandal Part 2: The John Aster Files

In part one of the Secrecy Law Scandal, we revealed that John Aster had written publicly, “they had not found child porn in 9 years”. We asked a question as to why such a statement would be made. In the chat box below, John Aster reveals how he was not only charged for child sex abuse images, but how the court allowed him to enter a plea bargain where he received no jail time:

Mr Aster has connected himself with Safer Family Law Campaigners and Mens Groups . He has started a few face-book groups designed to attract parents from both groups and offers to assist members often asking for court documents and copies of evidence from court cases. Evidential photos of child abuse often contain graphic images that may be misused by Mr Aster. After some parents received this information upon his disclosure and began to alert other parents, he proceeded to launched a disinformation campaign where he attacked the members of Mako for their campaigns in requesting the media releases on child predators:

Despite pleading guilty for having over 1500 images of child sexual abuse, John Aster not only has access to a child through the family court, but is able to effectively manipulate the community into believing he never participated in such an act. That he is a father that is, “falsely accused”. The charge he refers to is on or about 2000. Last year an offence that matched his age, location and amount of images recovered was reported.

Australia currently has no public register of sex offenders, but many public campaigns to help the, “falsely accused”. The closest thing to a sex offender register is mako and only cases that are leaked to the public make it into the registry. As demonstrated in, “Where do all of the perpetrators go?“, Australia’s sex offenders receive an average of 4-8 years jail time and their identities are protected. After that, they are released back into the community where they are most likely to re-offend.

Not only does the secrecy provisions of the Family Law Act protect the decisions of the court from public scrutiny combined with a closed sex offender registry, Australia has become a playground for sex offenders and a prison for children. It is therefore no wonder the laws we have today reflect the wishes of abusers.

There are 3000 children in the Australian sex industry(source).

700 paedophiles in Australia were identified(source).

Few sexual abuse cases make it to court, 95% of cases reported are not prosecuted(source).

Even fewer cases are acknowledged as a risk in the Family Court.

Professor Challenges courts behavior on child abuse

Professor Freda Briggs, challenged the courts on their reactions to child abuse with recent decisions resulting in sending children to abusers.

Professor labels courts ignorant and naïve

Posted Apr 12 2010, 07:43 PM by Lawyers Weekly

Child protection expert, Professor Freda Briggs, has slammed Australian courts for their ignorance and naivety in child sexual abuse cases, calling for statutory training of all family court judges and magistrates.

As a member of the National Council for Children Post-Separation (NCCPS) expert advisory panel, Briggs said Australian courts are now becoming renowned worldwide as turning a blind eye to paedophiles and child sexual abuse within the family.

She adds that, according to police experts, Australia’s reputation for handing out soft sentences has resulted in paedophiles purposely travelling to Australia from other countries where they would face a 25 year sentence for a similar offence.

Expressing concern about Australia’s approach to the issue of child protection, Briggs said there is an alarming lack of understanding and knowledge among family court judges and magistrates regarding child sexual abuse and its ramifications.

Briggs is concerned about the number of children who are being ordered by family court judges into residency or contact with parents who are acknowledged to be child sex offenders, placing the children atrisk of abuse.

According to Briggs, judges and magistrates need to be made aware, on a continuous basis, of the most recent research findings regarding child sexual offenders, their modus operandi and the effects of abuse on children.

Providing examples of how this lack of knowledge amongst the family courts of Australia has led to a number of offenders being given less than appropriate orders, Briggs quoted Californian Judge Peggy Fulton Hora, who recently expressed amazement that Australia does not impose mandatory training for newly appointed judges.

“The need for mandatory education has never been more obvious than in recent weeks. First, a family court judge in Tasmania thought it was appropriate to make little children responsible for their own protection from a convicted child sex offender who was acknowledged to be a risk.

“Seemingly the judge thought that daylight protects children from sexual abuse…Clearly this man needs to be educated about the grooming methods used by child sex offenders,” Briggs said in a statement.

Giving other examples highlighting the need for training and education, Briggs emphasised that judges need to “learn about domestic violence and its effects on children’s brain development” and that “only around 1.8 per cent of reported child sex offenders are convicted in this country”.

Endorsing and supporting Briggs’ concerns and calls for training, the NCCPS has asked for the AttorneyGeneral to address this issue immediately.

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Filed under: child abuse, family courts

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Where Do All Of The Perpetrators Go?

Just six days ago, a Laurence D’Alessandrowas found guilty of possessing over 16000 images of child pornography. It was deemed, “The very worst” “inhumane” and “evil”.

He was sentenced to 3 years jail. In 3 years time, this man will be out in our community, maybe already married with children or about to be married with children. We wont know. Some unlucky women and child may fall prey to such a predator in the future. With so many privacy laws protecting perpetrators, she may not know until its too late. If she makes the decision to protect the child and leave, he can still obtain unquestioned rights of access to the child through the family court. How that stands in legal terms of the Family court is “in the past”.

In a report from the Sentencing Advisory Council, the average rate of sentencing is an appalling figure on the value of a child’s livelihood:

Believe it or not, there is actually lesser sentence if the child is related to the abuser:

Considering the average jail term for incest being 4 years, the crimes that warrant higher sentences must be more abhorrent or are they?

1. A women is sentenced for 5 years over property investment.(source)
2. A man was sentenced for 3 years for denying the holocaust(source)
3. Copyright infringements are up to 5 years(Source)
4. Maximum penalty for juveniles caught stealing is 7- 8 years(source)
5. A man receives 7 years for taking bribes(Source)

So where do the perpetrators go?

Back into the community, into our unsuspecting lives, taking advantage of a legal system that is wholeheartedly supporting them. Again and again.