Queensland police have never charged a convicted paedophile who admitted under oath at an inquest to having committed sexual offences against a 15-year-old.
The decision has outraged the now-retired coroner who oversaw the court hearings.
John Hutton, who was a coroner between 2008 and 2017, has taken aim at the Queensland police for not pursuing charges over the man's sworn evidence at a 2016 inquest in what Mr Hutton called a "failure" to act.
"I've never come across anything like this, where a person on oath admits to a crime and police do nothing about it, that being a crime against children," he told the ABC.
The evidence was heard during the inquest into the death of 25-year-old cyclist Shui Ki Chan, who was run down and left to die in a ditch on the side of the highway near Gatton on a cold August night in 2012.
Believing there was insufficient evidence to lay criminal charges, a detective had requested Mr Hutton conduct an inquest to assist them in their investigation.
"We uncovered an incredible situation, lifting the rocks and finding what lay underneath: drugs supply, paedophilia and the unlawful killing of a … young man," Mr Hutton said.
Informant made admission under oath
In October 2012, two months after Mr Chan's death, "informant" Phillip Thow, now 64, told police he knew who the driver was and named Joanne McAuley.
According to the inquest findings, she told more than a dozen people she had purposely struck Mr Chan with her vehicle.
However, Ms McAuley later claimed she had concocted the story "to scare" Mr Thow away from having a sexual relationship with a teenager, the inquest found.
"The inquest confirmed that Mr Thow did, in fact, have a … sexual relationship with … [a] then-15-year-old," the findings said.
"Both Mr Thow and [the younger person] admitted to this."
Delivering those findings in 2017 – his last before retirement – Mr Hutton revealed he had referred the case to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) after forming a "reasonable suspicion" that Ms McAuley had committed murder and Mr Thow had also committed rape and/or indecent dealing with a minor.
He also provided the DPP with a full copy of the inquest brief of evidence and transcripts.
The DPP advised Mr Hutton that while there appeared to be a "prima facie case" against Mr Thow for certain sexual offences against the then 15-year-old, "there did not appear to be any reasonable prospects of success while [the survivor] remained a reluctant witness".
In his findings, Mr Hutton recommended the Queensland Police Commissioner direct "urgent attention" to whether Ms McAuley would be charged with murder and to reviewing whether Mr Thow should be charged with sexual offences.
Late last year, Ms McAuley pleaded guilty to manslaughter over Mr Chan's death and was sentenced to 10 years' prison.
'You can't get better than sworn evidence'
Now Mr Hutton and his former counsel assisting, Peter De Waard, have decided to speak out about what they believe are the "unfinished" aspects of the case.
"Those aspects involve a referral that the coroner made for the alleged rape of a child – and there [is a potential perpetrator] in relation to those alleged offences who has not seen justice," Mr De Waard said.
A Queensland Police Service (QPS) spokesperson told the ABC that in 2017 – and following the direction from the coroner – Gatton detectives interviewed the young man, by that time an adult, and he was "adamant" he did not wish to make a complaint.
"Throughout this enquiry, police complied with all the relevant legislation, policy and procedures, as well as the Charter of Victim's Rights and the Human Rights Act in relation to meeting our responsibilities to victims," the spokesperson said.
Five years on from the inquest hearings, Mr Hutton said he believed the evidence obtained during the inquest was sufficient.
"You can't get better than sworn evidence of an offender admitting to a crime in court.
"[He] made the admissions in court with no protection from me. I can direct someone to answer a question, but in this case, I didn't direct him to answer, he volunteered the information on oath, in court.
"For reasons known only to themselves, the QPS thought there was insufficient evidence to proceed."
Mr De Waard said it was "an injustice".
"We handed over the evidence to the police," he said.
"For the police to say that they couldn't prefer a charge or that they'd exercised their discretion to not prefer a charge because the complainant was unwilling is, I think, an injustice.
"Especially in circumstances where both the survivor and the alleged perpetrator have already made admissions in court. This case begs the question – why does the system put so much pressure on survivors before a prosecution is commenced?
"We owe it to our community to do a better job of protecting our children."
'Findings are just shelved'
Mr Thow is currently behind bars in Tasmania serving a lengthy sentence for historical child sexual offences.
He was first interviewed by Tasmanian police about those incidents in 2012 – the same year he spoke to Queensland police about the hit and run.
Mr Hutton, whose legal career included working both as a defence barrister and as a crown prosecutor, said the whole purpose of the Coroner's Court was to "get to the root cause of what happened".
Mr De Waard agreed there was a lack of transparency and "tracking" when it came to coronial referrals and recommendations to the police and to recommendations to improve public health and safety.
"When a coroner makes a referral to the QPS for an alleged criminal offence, that's the end of it," he said.
"The public never hear necessarily what happens as a result of that referral.
"There's no reporting back to the coroner and there's no reporting back to the community.
"Non-Queensland government agencies and individuals are not held accountable in relation to coronial recommendations directed to them at all.
"Only Queensland government agencies have to report about what they have done, but even then they don't necessarily provide much of an explanation."
Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman told the ABC coronial recommendations are important to the government and "we take them very seriously".
"They identify ways to protect Queenslanders from preventable deaths, and keep our most vulnerable community members safe," she said.
"The government responds publicly to all recommendations.
"Our responses can be found alongside coronial findings of the Coroners Court of Queensland website."
