A VIOLENT serial sex offender, whose most recent crimes against an intellectually disabled girl were described by the sentencing judge as "chilling" and cold-hearted, has been released from jail to live in the Hunter.
The maximum sentence period, and therefore the parole, of Craig Hunter Paton expired earlier this month.
Paton, 62, has a long history of mental health problems and is the brother of former Australian Democrats leader Cheryl Kernot.
He was initially jailed in 1996 for kidnapping a woman for more than eight hours, stabbing her, repeatedly sexually assaulting her and threatening to kill her three-month-old baby if she did not comply.
Paton was sentenced to 12 years' jail with a non-parole period of seven years and six months, but reoffended not long after his parole period ended.
His next violent offence happened at Fingal Bay in 2008 when he detained an intellectually disabled teenage girl, whose parents' he knew, for 22 hours with intent to obtain sex.
Paton bound the girls' wrists and ankles with tape and attempted to choke her with a length of rope before she eventually escaped.
The NSW Supreme Court heard earlier this month, that the theme among the offences was that Paton, who suffers from bipolar disorder, stopped taking his medication and committed offences against women he knew when in manic phases.
In sentencing Paton in 2006, Judge Ralph Coolahan said he displayed a "sociopathic attitude" and was willing to go to "extremes at the cost of others to ensure that his needs are met".
"The terror experienced by the victim must have been extreme," Judge Coolahan said.
"The cold-heartedness exhibited by the offender towards the victim and the lack of any empathy or concern to both her and her parents is quite chilling."
The NSW government lodged an application earlier this month in the Supreme Court to impose an extended supervision order on Paton now that he is living in the community.
The Crown Solicitors' Office told Supreme Court Justice Natalie Adams that Paton was a sexual sadist and posed a danger to the community if unsupervised.
In risk assessment reports by prison psychologists, Paton was rated as "medium/high" risk, with a likelihood to reoffend 3.8 times higher than a "typical" sex offender.
Justice Adams said Paton had complied with his parole conditions for seven months and his family was supportive and assisting Community Corrections.
"His offending history reveals a pattern of sexual and violent offending against women known to him," she said.
"The gravity of the risk that is likely to eventuate is therefore also high."
She ordered an interim supervision order and that Paton be assessed by a psychologist and psychiatrist.
The matter was adjourned.
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