A child sex offender fighting for the right to have IVF treatment has ignited a fierce debate about the rights of convicted criminals in Victoria.
The 34-year-old man — known only as ABY for legal reasons — had sex with a 16-year-old girl in his care while working as a teacher’s aide in 2009.
He was convicted of child sex offences and jailed for three years, with two years suspended.
ABY’s child sex conviction automatically bans him and his wife from undergoing IVF treatment but in July 2011, the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) overturned this ban, giving ABY and his wife the green light to start trying for a baby.
VCAT ruled that ABY’s risk of reoffending was low and there was no evidence to suggest he might sexually abuse his own child.
The decision sparked outrage and the patient review panel — which rejected ABY’s initial application for IVF in November 2010 — is now urging the Court of Appeal to overturn the VCAT ruling.
The review panel argues that even if ABY did not abuse his child, he or she would still suffer if he reoffended with another child.
“They’ve only focused on ABY’s risk of re-offending per se … if for example he was to reoffend against another child, that would also impact on ABY’s biological child,” review panel barrister Kerri Judd told the Victoria Court of Appeal yesterday.
ABY’s barrister John Ribbands said that the risk posed to any child was not great enough to prevent that child being born.
ABY and his wife have frequently spoken out about their situation, saying they believe everyone has a right to have a family.
“Any person who can conceive a child naturally can and does,” ABY’s wife told ABC’s7.30last year. “There are people with sexual offense and murder charges that have children and more than one child. Why do they have children and we can’t?”
The Court of Appeal justices reserved their decision.
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