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Serious offender enforcement squad: Police officers reveal how they monitor WA’s child predators

These are the cops working day and night to protect your children from convicted paedophiles released back into the community. They track them, question them, monitor their phones and devices and ensure they are no longer a risk to kids. The West Australian was this week granted special access to the WA Police serious offender enforcement squad — a dedicated unit whose task is to stop child sex offenders cause further harm. In a series of interviews, the detectives lifted the lid on their uncomfortable line of work which goes largely unnoticed by the public but sees them deal with “the worst of the worst” each day. Detective Sergeant Hayley Worland, who investigates compliance breaches of reporting obligations and has a wealth of experience meeting with sex offenders to ensure they are abiding the law. She said most people would struggle to pick child sexual abusers out from a crowd. “The greatest risk to the community is when people think they know what a convicted child sex offender looks like,” Det. Sgt Worland said. “I’m telling you right now, they cannot (spot them). “Men, women and juveniles. We’ve got people coming in here in suits carrying a briefcase . . . from all walks of life. “Our children are the most vulnerable people in the community, and for those people to be taken advantage of and exploited is disgusting. “In my world, this is the worst of the worst, and the children are the most vulnerable of the most vulnerable.” The full lists of child sex offences which make someone a reportable offender include, child sexual abuse, indecent acts involving a child or children and the possession, production or distribution of child abuse material. The reporting obligations of those offenders force them to tell police about their lifestyle changes, logins to internet accounts, home address, vehicle details and travel plans within a strict timeframe. The maximum time a person is made a reportable offender can be for life. Also in the squad’s remit are high risk serious offenders (HRSOs), who have been declared as such by the WA Supreme Court because they pose an ongoing risk to the community. HRSOs can include offenders such as murderers, arsonists and repeat armed robbers. HRSOs can be subject to ongoing detention orders or be released into the community on supervision orders, which can include electronic monitoring. They are jointly managed by the Department of Justice and police. One recent example of a HRSO is notorious paedophile Bradley Pen Dragon. He is now back behind bars after the unit charged him with allegedly breaching his a court-imposed supervision order by attending a gym and accessing the internet on a treadmill. While the public is not provided a running tally on the number of reportable offenders in WA, statistics obtained by The West Australian placed that number at 4485 in December 2025. The squad also manages the serious offender registry and the community protection website, which can be accessed by the public and provides three tiers of information to parents who hold concerns about sex offenders living nearby. A local search on the site allows approved users to view photographs — but not names — of reportable offenders who live in their area. It also features a way for parents or guardians to check if a specific person their child has regular contact with is a reportable offender. An application must be approved by police and is assessed on a case-by-case basis. The name and faces of missing reportable offenders can be accessed by anyone on the site. At the time of publishing, nine offenders remain missing. Police suspect some may have left Australia without approval. Officer in charge of the serious offender enforcement squad Det. Sen. Sgt. Kel Ellis wants the people to be reassured her team are not letting these criminals roam unchecked. “It’s important the public knows that they aren’t just floating around in the community,” she said. “We enforce the law as soon as there’s a minor breach of a compliance to their obligations, we will react rapidly to that to stop any serious further offending. “The officers give up their time with their families and friends to help protect your family, your friends, the vulnerable people in the community.” Officers attached to the squad can conduct compliance searches on reportable offenders, even when no investigation is underway. A failure to report to police or providing false details carries a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment. A suspected breach can also trigger an investigation where detectives can apply for a search warrant to seize evidence such as electronic devices for further examination. The West Australian was present when detectives reacted to an alleged breach from a reportable offender and prepared to raid a home in suburban Perth this week. “We believe he hasn’t told us where he’s living, he hasn’t told us his travel,” Detective Sergeant Stephen Ryan told officers during the briefing. “He has a phone that he hasn’t declared to us, we don’t know what he’s using that phone for, and he may or may not have had reportable child contact with his partner’s daughter. “We just need to address risks . . . his offending history is largely sexual offending against children, but he does have some firearms-related offending. “We just want to exercise caution in case he does have access to firearms. He hasn’t shown violence against police in the past, but he has pointed firearms at others. “Obviously, we have first aid kits with us, and in a worst case scenario, we’ll use those and get an ambulance to hospital.” Officers executed the warrant without issue before a man in his 20s was arrested and charged with breaching his reporting obligations. Det. Sgt. Ryan said intelligence gathered from around the state was scraped daily to assist the squad in keeping tabs on the movements of offenders. “We can draw on information flowing to public from Crime Stoppers, and from often social media pages like a mother’s group who might have concerns about someone — even if they wouldn’t necessarily share it directly with the police,” he said. “Whether it be automatic number plate recognition, telco information, or information from from the public, when we identify those people presenting risks, we can actively target them. Then we enlist our compliance team and investigation team.” The squad also works closely with other Australian and international law enforcement to investigate crimes and track the approved movements of offenders, who are on a national database. WA cops attached to the squad who review child abuse material found on the devices of reportable offenders — which is deemed hazardous in the workplace — have helped agencies around the world arrest child abusers. Sometimes their investigations expose offending that would have otherwise remained hidden. A notable investigation by Det. Sen. Const. Oliver Taylor resulted in child sex offender Ross Nagle being jailed for 13 years in late 2024. Det. Sen. Const. Taylor said his investigation started after the parents of a young girl saw a random bank transaction and reported it to police. “The report came through to us because they established that (the sender of the money) was a reportable offender,” he said. “I made an order to produce all of the bank records — I worked with Bendigo Bank over a period of a couple of months, sometimes for a couple of hours at a time on the phone with a particular analyst over there — and we put together quite a bit of evidence. “Nagle would engage with people on social media and basically throw the net wide, and then whenever they’d be somebody who would take the bait, he’d then start a conversation and see how far he could take it. “That resulted in the sexual penetration of children, meeting them in car parks, and sometimes it would be trying to get them to do things on camera and record themselves.” Det. Sen. Const. Taylor said Nagle was paying more than 90 people, which included adults. He paid one woman $20,000. He was jailed for 13 years for offences against six girls, including one victim who he approached for weeding and dog-sitting services after she posted on a Facebook community group. She was on school holidays and said she was 15. He paid his youngest victim between $20 and $100 for about 50 images he’d told her to take of herself and send to him. District Court Judge Wendy Hughes said Nagle knew he was in the wrong after previously being released on parole and undergoing counselling in prison. “The question remains: what will make you stop when you are ultimately released?” she said. Det. Sen. Const. Taylor said Nagle’s case showed how important public reports were to what they did. “The offenders are very much on our radar, and we will proactively go ahead and engage with these people by using compliance searches where we can go and identify offences that are being committed,” he said. “We’re using that strategy quite frequently, but sometimes, it does take a parent to spot an unusual activity.” Information about WA reportable offenders, including access to local searches and the disclosure scheme can be accessed at communityprotection.wa.gov.au Crime Stoppers WA: 1800 333 000 Sexual Assault Resource Centre: 1800 199 888 Kid’s Helpline: 1800 55 1800 Lifeline: 13 11 14

exclusiveSerious offender enforcement squad: Police officers reveal how they monitor WA’s child predators

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Serious offender enforcement squad: Police officers reveal how they monitor WA’s child predators