The Chronicle

Rapist too big risk: court

- Jessica Grewal Jessica.Grewal@newsregion­almedia.com.au

SADISTIC serial rapist Jason Charles Buckley has been refused an appeal for a review of a parole board decision to keep him behind bars.

Buckley, who is serving 22 years in jail for a series of terrifying rapes across Toowoomba and Dalby, appealed the decision amid claims too much weight was placed on allegation­s of animal cruelty and bestiality.

Those allegation­s are that he had sex with horses, goats and sheep, and at times, killed them beforehand.

Buckley, now 45, previously told prison psychologi­sts about the

disturbing acts said to have taken place over 10 years, but of which he was never convicted.

He said they happened when he was feeling “low” and “needing the release of sex”.

In 2014 Buckley withdrew all claims of “depraved” behaviour which he said he “fabricated in order to get a lighter sentence”.

He now says that despite this, the parole board still recently took that behaviour into considerat­ion when refusing his release.

He also claims the board failed to consider the progress he had made while participat­ing in sex offender programs in jail.

But Justice Debra Mullins found the board had not acted as though Buckley was guilty of animal cruelty and bestiality.

Justice Mullins said instead, the board “took into account his claim to have committed animal offences and his withdrawal of those claims as relevant to Mr Buckley’s “likely level of credibilit­y” when assessing the level of risk he poses to the community”.

She acknowledg­ed he had taken part in the programs with some positive results but said he had yet to address the “outstandin­g area of sexual deviancy” identified by both the psychologi­st who reported to the parole board and Buckley himself.

The appeal for a review of the parole decision was refused late Friday.

Buckley was arrested in April, 2000.

His first victim, a 20-year-old woman, was stalked and attacked in her yard at Dalby.

Next was a 67-year-old woman who was woken from her sleep, dragged into her back yard, raped and sodomised at Toowoomba.

His third victim was just 15 when she was chased into Toowoomba’s Queen’s Park and repeatedly raped.

Documents before the court show that at the time, Buckley “felt the need to inflict pain and hurt to ‘make sex horrific’ instead of pleasurabl­e”.

He recalled that as a child, “pleasure led to him becoming addicted to the after-effects of sex” and that he “lashed out and unfortunat­ely three people suffered for it”.

Buckley was originally ordered to serve an indefinite period of time in jail but that decision was overturned by the Court of Appeal in 2008.

If he continues to fail in his parole bids, Buckley will remain in jail until April 26, 2022.

 ?? PHOTO: POLICE
MEDIA ?? BIG RISK: Convicted Darling Downs rapist James Charles Buckley.
PHOTO: POLICE MEDIA BIG RISK: Convicted Darling Downs rapist James Charles Buckley.

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