A man is currently facing deportation after being caught masturbating alone in his car.
ABC News reports that the 26-year-old Nepalese man, who moved to Tasmania in 2015, was working in Hobart as a food delivery driver in 2021 when the incident occurred.
One morning when the man finished his shift early, he drove into Rosny Park. He looked around, thinking no one was there and began to have a bit of alone time inside his vehicle.
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However, shortly after, a council worker approached his car to notify him he couldn’t park there.
As the council worker knocked on his window, he quickly realised the man was exposed and asked him to leave, which he did.
After being caught, the man was forced to undergo a risk assessment by Community Corrections Tasmania (CCT) to determine whether he was likely to re-offend.
CCT found the man was at medium risk of re-offending and, as a result, he could be placed on the sex offenders register.
If that happens, then he could face deportation.
However, the man’s lawyer, Dinesh Loganathan, sought after two clinical psychologists Dr Grant Blake and Dr Emma Collins, who refuted the CCT’s report, finding that he is at low risk of re-offending.
Earlier this week, Mr Loganathan said before Magistrate Andrew McKee that despite psychological assessment from two healthcare professionals, CCT refused to change their stance.
“We have two certified trained clinical psychologists who have provided a report to the court that Static-99R [the risk assessment tool] should have never been administered to [the man] and the administration was flawed," he said.
"We have Community Corrections who have provided a recommendation that [he is at] medium risk of offending.
"On the other hand, there's Dr Blake, who quite forcefully provides a view that Community Corrections has been wrongly administrating [assessments] for however long they've been doing it."
While reading Dr Blake's report, Mr Loganathan said: "Community Corrections must be informed they are continuing to use risk assessment tools incorrectly.
"It is unethical, unacceptable practice. It cannot continue."
Australia’s deportation laws are among the strictest in the western world.
Since the Federal government introduced Section 501 of the Migration Act in 2014 - whereby non-citizens could be refused a visa if they do not pass a ‘character test’ - around 10,000 people have been deported, according to The Guardian.
In 2019, the government strengthened these laws by adding a new section of ‘designated offences’, which saw more migrants fail their test.
In 2020-21, 946 visas were cancelled under Section 501, with drug offences being the most common reason, as per the Department of Home Affairs website.
Charisa Bossinakis