Bradley Pen Dragon, a 65-year-old man diagnosed with paedophilic disorder, has spent much of his adult life incarcerated for a series of sexual offences against children. His criminal history spans decades and multiple jurisdictions, beginning with a severe conviction in Thailand in 1997.
In 1997, Dragon was sentenced to 13 years in a Thai prison for the 'prolonged and depraved' sexual assault of a teenage girl. Following his deportation to Australia upon release, he continued to offend. In Western Australia, he was imprisoned for five years until August 2017 for an incident involving holding a knife to a woman while she placed her child in a car, demonstrating his ongoing threat to public safety.
- Just two days after his 2017 release, Dragon was arrested for breaching conditions by accessing child abuse material online, including searches for 'pre-teen porn' and 'child incest' at a Northbridge backpacker hostel.
- Judge Hylton Quail described the behaviour as 'brazen' and rejected Dragon's claim that such material 'just kept popping up' during internet use.
Dragon was again imprisoned, this time for possessing child abuse material accessed via the internet. In June 2022, the Supreme Court of Western Australia ruled for his release under an extended supervision order with 62 stringent conditions. These included electronic monitoring, a curfew, residence at a specified address, bans on possessing any images, drawings, or sketches of children, and no contact with anyone under 18 without approval. He was also required to report all movements verbally or in writing.
Former Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan assured the public of close monitoring, stating, 'He’s the sort of person that we will crack down on immediately. If he breaches, a tonne of bricks will come down on him.' Despite this, Dragon breached conditions shortly after release by possessing images of children, leading to his rearrest just two days later.
In November 2024, Dragon faced court over two alleged breaches, one involving donations to the charity Save the Children, which violated his restrictions. He pleaded not guilty and was granted bail, with the trial scheduled for later in 2025. According to reports from Nine News and The Sydney Morning Herald, Dragon has expressed views minimising his offences, telling a psychiatrist that societal laws on child pornography and sexual contact with children might change, likening them to past attitudes towards homosexuality. He even suggested willingness for physical castration, though no such procedure was available in Australia.
The most recent incident occurred on 27 March 2025, when Dragon was rushed to Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Perth in critical condition following a suspected self-harm attempt via drug overdose while on bail. This event underscores the ongoing risks associated with his release and the challenges of managing high-risk offenders in the community.