Sydney could turn into 'hunting ground' if pedophile is released
A survivor of a notorious pedophile and child killer warns Bondi Beach will again become a "hunting ground" if the criminal is released in less than two weeks.
The NSW Attorney General is preparing to launch a last-minute legal bid to keep Michael Anthony Guider behind bars while public support builds for new laws to keep him locked up indefinitely.
Guider was jailed for 17 years in 2002 for the manslaughter of Samantha Knight who was last seen on a Bondi street in August 1986.
The court, at the time, heard Guider had given the nine-year-old an overdose of a sleeping drug.
The gardener and part-time babysitter was already serving a 16-year prison sentence after pleading guilty in 1996 to dozens of child sex offences against 11 victims.
Some of Guider's other victims had been drugged so he could photograph and abuse them.
Despite never revealing the location of Samantha's body, and never being granted parole, Guider's sentence will expire on June 6 and he is expected to walk from prison aged 69.
But Chantelle Hamilton, one of Guider's surviving victims, marched down Bondi Beach promenade on Saturday to protest the pedophile's release alongside Samantha's mother, Tess Knight, the girl's school mates and locals.
It was "powerful and emotional" to meet Ms Knight in person for the first time, and "the sun came out for Sam", Ms Hamilton said.
"Keeping pedophiles in jail is important, they're an infestation in the community," she told AAP.
The now-30-year-old mother has already marched in Adelaide, where she lives, but wanted to protest in the community still haunted by Guider's crimes.
"Bondi remembers, people remember seeing Samantha's missing poster hung up around the place, they'll remember searching for her," Ms Hamilton said.
"But her body was never found, there's been no real closure for her mum, her family or the community."
Ms Hamilton said Guider's refusal to reveal the location of Samantha's body "rubbed salt in the wound".
"He has no remorse, he's not sorry, he just wants to do his time and get out - if he felt differently he would have given Samantha's family peace," she said.
The judge who sentenced Guider in 2002 said his continued use of drugs on children following Samantha's death showed he remained a danger.
Ms Hamilton echoed those words 17 years later.
"He's smart, he's careful, he'll go back to his old hunting grounds," she said.
"His age won't diminish him as a predator or a threat, I think people should be scared and outraged."
Ms Hamilton is looking forward to attending court on Monday given the march amplified support for her cause.
Attorney General Mark Speakman's office is expected to begin an application for a 12-month continuing detention order in the NSW Supreme Court.
The government wants that followed by a five-year extended supervision order to monitor Guider post-release.
But Ms Hamilton wants legislators to stop child killers being freed if they won't offer up the location of their victims' bodies.
Her online petition for stronger laws has garnered almost 130,000 signatures in three months.
"People have had enough, if you hurt a child, rape a child, kill a child there should not be any second chance," she said.
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