A truly insane justice system in Australia

A DEPRAVED monster branded "Victoria's most dangerous man" has been allowed to leave jail on a shopping trip and is being prepared for early release. Rapist Antonio Christopher "Mad Dog" Loguancio is so violent prison guards and police believe he is likely to kill after he is freed in December. Authorities are preparing to release him three years early, though he has amassed a shocking record of violence in jail.

Loguancio, 34, was jailed in December 1998 for 12 years for the long-running torture and sickening sexual assault of a woman. And while in jail, he has committed about 40 vicious assaults on other inmates and guards, prison sources said. "He is the most dangerous man in Victoria - if he gets out he will kill," another jail source said.

Though Loguancio's sentence does not end until December, 2010, and he has continued his extreme violence in jail, the Adult Parole Board confirmed it has set a tentative release date of December this year. And, in a move that has outraged victims of crime, Corrections Victoria recently granted Loguancio a "rehabilitation and transition permit". The permit allowed him to go on a four-hour shopping trip in Geelong, accompanied by two guards.

Sentencing Judge Mervyn Kimm branded Loguancio's crimes "violent, appalling ... disgusting and depraved". During 2½ years of violence and sickening sexual assaults on a woman, he beat her with a length of wood, kicked and punched her while she was lying on the ground and slashed her with a carving knife. On one occasion, with the woman on her knees, he held her by the hair and pointed a pump-action shotgun at her head, telling her she was "dead". Another time he choked the woman with a belt until her face turned blue. On yet another occasion the victim took refuge from a rampaging Loguancio in a toilet, but he used a powerful crossbow to fire 34 arrows into the toilet door before dragging her out and stabbing an arrow into her leg.

The tortures ended with his arrest in 1997, after a man in a suburban Melbourne park saw Loguancio chasing his frightened victim. Loguancio saw the man watching and attacked him with a shovel and then an axe. Later, after Loguancio was jailed, his female victim, whose body was covered in welts, revealed the horrific torture.

During the court proceedings her parents' home was firebombed in an attack detectives believe Loguancio - who as an 18-year-old torched his school after he was expelled - ordered from jail.

Det-Sgt Trevor Mucchi, who led the investigation into Loguancio, said yesterday: "Antonio Christopher Loguancio, in my 23 years of policing, stands out as the most unpredictable, violent and vengeful individual I have ever been involved with. "His whole reason for existing is to dominate and get even with people. "I have no doubt that he is capable of killing. "His release will have a huge impact on the lives of a number of people."

Loguancio became eligible for parole in July. Adult Parole Board general manager David Provan said a tentative December release date was set last month. But the prisoner would need to successfully complete a jail violence intervention program and be passed by the board when he again fronts it in November, Mr Provan said.

A Corrections Victoria spokesperson defended the program that allowed Loguancio to go shopping. "Community safety is paramount and prisoners remain closely supervised by prison staff at all times," the spokesman said. People Against Lenient Sentencing president Steve Medcraft said Loguancio should be made to serve the full term of his sentence plus more time for his prison violence.

Report here



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