‘Get rid of
11 Jul 08 @
CARBROOK: Fearing for their children’s safety,
parents have pledged to “do whatever was needed” to protect their children from
serial child rapist Dennis Ferguson.
For some, eliminating the fear meant protesting at
Tuesday night’s meeting at
For others, it meant putting their livelihood at
risk simply by speaking publicly on the matter.
Redlands-based police prosecutor Senior Constable
Heather Steinberg was one such parent.
Mother of …and ….., Ms Steinberg received a
standing ovation from the 800-plus crowd when she admitted she had risked her
job by collecting more than 150 signatures petitioning for Ferguson’s removal.
“I collected these in less than two hours ... and I
got more in the 30 minutes I have been here,” she said.
“I know I am not allowed to do this and that I am
putting my job in jeopardy but my children come first.”
Ms Steinberg said she was in a no-win situation.
“How do I, as a police officer, tell my
two-year-old and four-year-old that it is my job, that
the State Government and the Commissioner are making me, as a police officer,
protect him and not them?”
Carbrook’s Ian McBean
said if
“I can see people taking kids out of schools ...
because of this,” he said.
“What is going to happen on Tuesday when the
children go back to school who is going to protect them?”
Another mother said the rural lifestyle her
children enjoyed in Carbrook would cease to exist if
“Our children can’t roam the paddocks, they can’t
look after our animals, we can’t do anything because you have imprisoned us in our
own homes,” she said.
“Our children are frightened, and we are
frightened.”
Another unnamed mother, who was a victim of a pedophile, held back tears as she called for answers.
“One thing that must come through clear tonight is
that we as a community, as mothers and victims of pedophiles,
need to be kept safe and need to be kept informed of where they are I don’t
know where my attacker is,” she said.
Resident Leonie Douglas said: “Just because we live
in
One father of two young children said he was
sickened when he heard of
“We have children and we love them very, very much
and we can’t understand how we did not have any say on why he is here,” he said.
“We were never asked
he was just dumped on our doorsteps.”