Convicted paedophile, former Swansea MP and ex-Lake Macquarie councillor Milton Orkopoulos has been granted parole after more than a decade in jail.
A 14-page decision published by the NSW State Parole Authority on Friday morning noted Corrective Services NSW commissioner Peter Severin filed a submission in opposition to the 62-year-old being freed and advised "that release to parole should be approached with a high degree of caution".
The Serious Offenders Review Council and Community Corrections provided reports supporting the Orkopoulos' release, the decision said.
The former Labor minister was jailed for a maximum of 13 years and eight months in May, 2008, after he was convicted of 30 charges including multiple counts of having sex with a male between 10 and 18, indecent assault, supplying prohibited drugs and possessing child pornography.
The crimes were committed between 1995 and 2006.
His sentence formally expires on October 18, 2021. He was first eligible for parole on February 18, 2017.
"The Authority acknowledges that the offences were very serious and that they occurred in a context where the offender maintained a false facade of being a law abiding and senior member of the community, while abusing three young boys and supplying them with drugs and alcohol," the decision noted.
"Without question, at the time of their commission, the offender posed a significant risk to the safety of the community."
Friday's decision noted that Orkopoulos had incurred four "institutional misconduct charges" while in prison, including a failed drug test in 2015 and another earlier this year.
"The Authority has considered the impact that the release of the offender on parole is likely to have on the victims and their families," the decision said.
"As noted earlier the breach of trust and misuse of the position that the offender held in the community was egregious and has had a serious and profound impact on the confidence and security of all involved, which might well be revived by knowledge of his release.
"It is entirely understandable if they preferred that he not be released, however any decision as to parole release must be made in the context of the sentence that comes to an end in October 2021 and that made provision for a potential period of release on parole prior to its end date."
Among the conditions of his release, Orkopoulos is not to enter the Newcastle or Lake Macquarie local government areas.
He cannot be in the company of a person under 16 years old without an approved responsible adult present, he must not take illicit drugs and he is not allowed to contact or communicate with any of his victims or their families.
He will also be electronically monitored.
Orkopoulos was a Lake Macquarie councillor between 1995 and 1999.
He was then elected to NSW Parliament as Swansea MP in 1999 until 2006, serving as a minister in the later years.
Lake Macquarie councillors voted last month to write to NSW Minister for Corrections Anthony Roberts, Minister for Justice Troy Grant and Mr Severin to oppose Orkopoulos' possible release.
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