Jill Meagher killer was not on sex offenders register

The man who raped and murdered Irish woman Jill Meagher in Melbourne last September was not listed on the sex offenders register despite convictions for several attacks on women and children.

Police say if Adrian Bayley had been listed on the register it could have prevented Ms Meagher's murder.

In 2002 Bayley (41) was sentenced under S.6D of Victoria’s sentencing act - meaning he was regarded as a serious sexual offender.

In 2004, while Bayley was serving a minimum eight year prison sentence, the police could have made a retrospective application to place him on the sex offenders register when it was made law.

While it is mandatory in Victoria to register convicted paedophiles, the act is discretionary for listing sex offenders whose victims are adults.

Before murdering Ms Meagher, Bayley’s prior convictions included offences against three girls aged under 18 in 1990 and the rape of five prostitutes in 2000-2001.

In mid-2012 two women were sexually assaulted in the St Kilda suburb of Melbourne, but Bayley was not considered a suspect, despite police issuing a photo-fit image with characteristics similar to Bayley.

A Dutch woman, who was raped on July 15th last year, was assaulted after being driven into a laneway.

Ms Meagher was raped and killed in a laneway in the Melbourne suburb of Brunswick on September 22nd.

The Herald Sun newspaper today reported that some police officers also raised concerns Bayley’s DNA was not stored on the state or federal crime database despite a sample being taken in 2001.

One officer said he was unaware Bayley had been released from a previous sentence and had not seen the photo-fit image following the July 2012 rape.

“I feel sick in the stomach,” the officer said. “When I heard his name on the radio I was shattered.

“Had they (the parole board) notified me I would have notified all the victims and it would have been fresh in my mind and theirs.

“I feel terrible. I didn’t know he was out. Had I known I would have definitely notified the detectives at St Kilda.”

Bayley has been charged with further counts of rape from 2012 and another from 2000.

A report issued this week recommends a 23-point overhaul of Victoria’s parole system.