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AAP
AAP
National
Sam McKeith

Hey Dad! sex offender still a 'denier'

The NSW State Parole Authority has conducted a hearing for disgraced Hey Dad! actor Robert Hughes. (AAP)

Disgraced Hey Dad! actor Robert Hughes has become an "old and frail" man who continues to deny his crimes, his former on-screen daughter and victim Sarah Monahan has said outside a parole hearing for the child sex offender.

The NSW State Parole Authority on Friday conducted a hearing for Hughes, who starred as Martin Kelly in the TV comedy series Hey Dad! from 1987-1994.

Hughes, 73, was sentenced in 2014 to a maximum 10 years and nine months in prison, which is due to expire in January 2025.

He was jailed after a jury found him guilty of 10 charges relating to sexual and indecent acts perpetrated on four young girls in the 1980s and 1990s.

Speaking outside the parole hearing, Ms Monahan said she wanted to be in court for the matter.

"I wanted him to see me, that I was there," she told reporters in Parramatta.

"He looked really really old, (so) anyone who's going through it and they're scared to go into to the court to see them absolutely do it because it takes all their power away.

"He's an old man and he's frail but they don't change, and he's a denier, he still thinks he hasn't done anything."

Ms Monahan starred in Hey Dad! alongside Hughes, who played her on-screen father in the long-running series.

While allegations against Hughes were raised in the 1990s, it took a paid television interview by Ms Monahan in 2010 to spark a broad police investigation into claims of sexual misconduct by the actor.

Ms Monahan said she still felt unable to get on with life due to parole hearings in the case, with Friday's appearance by the actor marking his third bid for freedom.

"You think life begins again and it doesn't because then every year you're brought back to this," she said.

Earlier, Hughes appeared via AVL link from jail for the hearing, which was told details from a psychologist's report including that he continued to deny his crimes, and that his risk factors included sexual deviancy and proximity.

It was told some of Hughes' family also continued to deny his offending but that his partner supported psychological treatment and "keeping children away".

Hughes' legal aid lawyer, Hannah Bruce, said reasons for parole were his low risk of sexual reoffending, ineligibility for jail rehab programs and that he would be subject to "notification orders" in the UK, where he would reside on release.

In arguing Hughes did not represent an "unacceptable risk" to the community, Ms Bruce said Interpol inquiries had confirmed it was not a situation where Hughes would be "completely unmonitored" in the UK.

Hughes has renounced his Australian citizenship meaning he will be deported to the UK upon release.

Ms Bruce described Hughes as an older gentleman who would spend the rest of his days in the UK when out of jail.

"His focus is on release maintaining a very low profile," Ms Bruce told the court.

The SPA board reserved its decision in the matter to next week.

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