Abuser avoids jail over breach

A SEX offender has been allowed to stay on the streets despite admitting he had been violent towards his then partner in Townsville.

The Brisbane Supreme Court ruled the “deplorable” conduct by Adam John Cobbo, 33, towards his ex was not enough to put him behind bars.

Cobbo was jailed in 2008 for raping a 14-year-old in public toilets in Brisbane’s Kurilpa Park.

He had been due for release in 2014, but was kept behind bars for another four years because of a push from the Attorney-general to keep him on a continuing detention order.

In a court judgment published last week, it was revealed that Cobbo began a relationship with a Townsville woman when he was released from jail in 2018.

A condition to his supervision order was that he could not see her without written approval.

The pair continued to meet and on one occasion, CCTV footage captured Cobbo being aggressive with the woman outside a North Ward hotel.

He pleaded guilty in Townsville Magistrates Court in February to having contravened his order.

During a hearing at the Brisbane Supreme Court last month, two psychiatrists gave evidence that Cobbo should remain on the supervision order.

They noted that he was only 19 when he committed the rape and there was no evidence that he had sexually offended in the past 14 years.

Justice Peter Davis agreed. “The contraventions involve violence by the respondent to a woman in a domestic situation and that conduct is deplorable,” he said.

“However, as already observed, he did not commit a serious sexual offence against her.”

Cobbo will be supervised in the community until 2023.