Overview
- Peter Liddy, the 82-year-old former magistrate convicted in 2001 of abusing four children in the 1980s, left the Adelaide Remand Centre on Thursday and is under a court-imposed interim supervision order with home detention.
- The interim order includes electronic monitoring, restricted internet access, a ban on contact with children and a prohibition on coming within 50 metres of schools, kindergartens and public playgrounds.
- The South Australian government has lodged applications in the Supreme Court to have Liddy detained indefinitely or placed on an extended supervision order while medical and psychiatric reports are obtained to assess his risk.
- SA Police warned the public not to engage in vigilante actions after flyers about Liddy’s release circulated and said the Child Sex Offenders Registration Act prevents police from publicly disclosing his home address.
- Survivor advocates expressed shock and distress at the release and lawyers say the case will test new legal tools such as extended supervision and recent changes that help victims seek financial orders against offenders.