Truck driver who photographed himself raping little girls set to be freed from prison despite high chance of re-offense
A truck driver who filmed and took photos of him raping young girls, to add to his exhaustive child pornography library, is set to be released from prison.
Stephen John Kennedy, 56, was found guilty of sexually abusing five children on truck rides in Queensland, Australia, over the past decade, according to the Daily Mail.
In one of the horrific offenses, he reportedly drugged the victim, an eight-year-old girl, with methamphetamine before raping her, in 2007.
She later told the police that she started hallucinating and remembered Kennedy taping her mouth shut and tying her up as he took her on his truck from Townsville to Cairns.
When the police raided his house before the arrest, they reportedly discovered an 'abhorrent' library of child pornography that he made between himself and his victims. It was alleged that he filmed and photographed himself while raping the victims to add to that child pornography collection that comprised more than 67,000 photos.
Despite the violent nature of his crimes and the fact that he is a repeat offender, Kennedy will be back on the streets late July after a judge saw him fit to be released. Judge Peter David agreed to free Kennedy on July 26 following a submission from Attorney General Yvett D'Ath. He said in the judgment that the 56-year-old was successful in hiding his offenses from others and manipulating the situation to pursue young girls.
A spokesman for the Queensland Corrective Services said the recommendation to release him was made after Kennedy visited three psychologists besides undertaking risk, medical, and psychological assessments.
While a psychiatrist did say that Kennedy had moved forward in his understanding of emotional vulnerabilities, it was ruled that the 56-year-old still presented 'outstanding treatment needs'.
"I would estimate his unmodified risk of sexual re-offending to be moderately high," the psychiatrist said.
Kennedy is also believed to have preyed on victims as young as three-years-old, and the decision to release him from prison has not sat down too well with opposition leader Deb Frecklington.
"As a mum, I simply can't believe this, in fact, it makes me feel sick to my very core," Frecklington was quoted as saying. "This sexual predator's crimes are sickening and the attorney-general has gone out of her way to have him released into the community".
There are conditions to his release. D'Ath has reportedly applied for a supervision order that will ban him from living 100m of schools and daycares, and contacting any of his victims. He will also have to wear a GPS tracking bracelet and will be heavily monitored.