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Paedophile stays behind bars

A court has ruled a convicted paedophile with a near 20-year history of sexually abusing teenagers remain in prison indefinitely because he still poses a serious risk to the community.

Darren Harley West, 47, was first convicted of having sex with a girl aged under 16 in 1996. He was convicted of the same offence with another girl in 2006.

After being found guilty of a similar offence against a 13-year-old boy in 2007, West was sent to prison for six years, with a release date of October 2012.

The Director of Public Prosecutions objected to West's release under the State's Dangerous Sexual Offenders Act, and today Justice Michael Corboy agreed he still needed to be locked up after two psychiatrists ruled him a serious risk of reoffending.

“In my view, the community can only be adequately protected, at this time, by a continuing detention,” Justice Corboy said.

West's family had supported his release to the Aboriginal community at Warburton.

But Justice Corboy ruled West's history of offending and the likelihood he would be in close proximity to adolescents if he was released was too big a concern.

“The reality is that in a small community, such as Warburton, Mr West would always be in close proximity to young adolescents,“ Justice Corboy said.