Sex offender under ‘supervision’ in community attacked woman during violent crime spree

A notorious sex offender went on a violent two-day crime spree that included choking a woman in Albert Park while he was supposed to be under close supervision in the community.

Despite a more than 15-year record of committing violent crimes and being a sex offender, and a history of absconding, Theo Briggs was allowed to live in a high-end drug and alcohol treatment centre with only GPS and alcohol-use tracking bracelets to prevent a potentially dangerous relapse.

Briggs, 33, is one of a series of known sex offenders The Age has found committing violent crimes and sex offences while on supervision orders administered by state government authorities.

But the crimes of these violent predators remain largely hidden due to a veil of secrecy created by legislation that protects offenders under the guise of increasing their prospects of rehabilitation.

Information about Briggs’ escape and attacks on innocent members of the public can only be published because The Age launched legal action in the County Court, citing the public’s right to know and arguing that failure of the monitoring system amounted to “exceptional circumstances” warranting disclosure.

The Department of Justice and Community Safety and the Office of Public Prosecutions did not oppose the publication order application.

It is the first time a challenge has been mounted under this legislation, which came into effect in 2018.

Briggs’ defence lawyer attempted to stop publication of his client’s history of being on supervision orders, arguing the main consideration should be the impact of any publication on his welfare and safety in prison and the hurt it would cause to his family and friends.

The court hearing on Friday came after Briggs was sentenced to eight years’ jail in November for a string of violent crimes he committed while on the run in November and December 2024. At the time, he had been under a series of supervision orders for a decade that were being monitored by state government agencies, including the Post Sentence Authority.

Under the Serious Offenders Act, sex offenders and violent criminals can be placed on a special supervision regime by order of a judge, ensuring the PSA can control where they live and how they interact with the community, and require them to wear monitoring devices, undertake drug tests, and obey curfews.

Briggs was placed on an order by a County Court judge in 2015 after he had repeatedly committed sex-based and violent crimes that led authorities to fear he would pose a serious risk to the public after he was released from prison, according to court records from prior to 2025.

In 2011, Briggs broke into a woman’s home while she slept and robbed her at knifepoint. He entered the house knowing someone was home and cut the phone line.

The supervision orders required Briggs to live in a special sex offender containment and treatment facility known as Corella Place, where he could be constantly monitored by trained staff and a GPS tracking device.

Briggs racked up several dozen convictions for violating the terms of his order and a string of other crimes, including absconding from the facility in 2016, committing an assault, drug possession, accessing violent pornographic websites, making threats to kill, and possessing a firearm. A later attempt to disable his tracking devices led to another jail sentence.

Then, in mid-April 2024, he was allowed to move into the community, placed in a high-end substance abuse treatment centre in inner-city Melbourne. He was required to wear a GPS tracker and alcohol use detection device. The decision was approved by the PSA.

The rehab centre, which was located in a quiet residential area, offered services such as counselling, yoga and breath work. It lists no specialist services for dealing with sex offenders.

Within days, Briggs tested positive for methamphetamine. He would return two more positive drug tests before he was arrested and then bailed to Corella Place. Three more positive tests followed.

The PSA then decided to place Briggs back in the community. On November 30 last year, he removed his electronic tracking devices and disappeared. Over the next 36 hours, Briggs committed two home invasions, stole a car, kidnapped an Uber driver at knifepoint and attacked a woman in a park.

In the sentence released to The Age, County Court Judge Scott Johns described what happened as a chilling and terrifying ordeal for the attacked woman, who had taken shelter from the rain that night in a park kiosk.

“You asked [the woman]: ‘Do you want to go with me just five minutes from here?’ [She] declined, and you grabbed her backpack that was sitting next to her. You said, ‘You’re going to come with me.’

“[She] told you she would no longer walk with you. In response, you said: ‘Shut the f--- up. You’re not going anywhere. Don’t think of running or screaming. I don’t want to hurt you, so don’t run or scream.’”

The woman ran, screaming for help.

“You chased [the woman], grabbed her, covered her mouth with your hand and pulled her backwards to the ground. You punched her in the right shoulder. You placed your other hand around [her] neck and pushed hard. You removed your hand from her mouth and placed it around her neck and strangled her with both hands.

“[The woman] struggled to breathe and used both her hands to try and take your hands from her throat. She managed to loosen your grip. She said: ‘Let’s do something. I’ll do whatever you want. Just don’t hurt me.’”

Briggs forced the woman to walk with him further before encountering a local resident who had heard the screams. Briggs then asked the witness to walk the woman to her car. After releasing her, Briggs took off.

The following day, he was arrested in St Kilda after worried locals saw him knocking on random doors and called Triple Zero.

Police had issued a public plea to find Briggs – including releasing his real name and a photograph – the day after he escaped.

Following his arrest, there was an information blackout about what Briggs had done while supposedly under the “supervision” of authorities. He was arrested, charged and vanished into the court system until The Age made a special application to allow public disclosure of his crimes.

Johns, the judge, sentenced Briggs to eight years’ jail, with a non-parole period of 5½ years. Briggs received a reduced sentence because he pleaded guilty in late November.

“It must be said, with a heavy heart, that your prospects of rehabilitation are bleak. They are not extinguished, of course, but they are bleak,” Johns said.

Briggs is one of 25 dangerous offenders who have been convicted of committing serious sex crimes and acts of violence while under supervision orders since 2018.

Almost nothing is known about the circumstances of these crimes or why the system failed to stop the offenders, because of the secrecy provisions written into the legislation and individual judges’ discretion to withhold publication of their sentences.

County Court judges are yet to rule on a half-dozen other applications by The Age for the release of sentences handed down to offenders convicted of violating supervision orders or committing crimes while under their jurisdiction.

The limited court records available show some of these mystery cases involve known sex offenders under supervision being charged with committing assault, entering a private place without permission, and making and transmitting child abuse material. One had been charged with violating his supervision order on 22 occasions.

This is counterbalanced by the willingness of some other members of the judiciary to publish judgements, although often redacting the names of the offenders in the hope it will help them obtain treatment.

On a small number of occasions, a judge has chosen to name an offender who was deemed so high risk the community should be informed about his existence.

The PSA said it was unable to comment on Briggs’ case but that “every decision made by the Post Sentence Authority has community safety as its highest priority”.

“The Department of Justice and Community Safety is responsible for the day-to-day management of people on supervision orders,” a spokesperson said. “All facilities are made aware of the history of individuals prior to accepting placements.

“The post-sentence supervision scheme ensures people who pose an unacceptable risk of reoffending are monitored after completing their sentence, rather than being released into the community with no oversight. A 2023 review of the legislation supporting the scheme found it is operating as intended and has strengthened government’s ability to protect the community.”

The agency’s 2024-25 annual report to parliament made no mention of the incident involving Briggs, which is probably the worst failure of the monitoring system in the PSA’s history.

The report did note the agency had become more “inclusive” by changing its official terminology from “offenders” to “people on orders”, which “reflects a deep and pervasive culture of respect within the Authority for the inherent human dignity of the people for whom we are responsible”.

PSA figures suggest the recidivism rate for offenders on supervision orders who commit serious sex crimes or violent crimes to be about 2 per cent of the average 130 people on orders at any given time in Victoria.

Dr Ahona Guha, a clinical and forensic psychologist and Age columnist, who often works with offenders on supervision orders, said it was a “vexed balance” when determining the risk someone posed.

“Recidivism rates for those on these orders are very low, and the system is sensitive and designed to be risk aware and alert. As human nature is impossible to predict and risk can be dynamic, there will always be some error built in, and it is impossible to have zero risk.”

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