Robert Hughes: Australian actor and sex offender to be deported to UK

By Tiffanie TurnbullBBC News, Sydney

Image source, Getty Images Image caption,

Robert Hughes has been released on parole after serving a prison sentence for child sexual abuse

Australian sitcom actor Robert Hughes will be freed from jail and deported to the UK after serving a sentence for child sexual abuse.

Hughes found fame for his lead role in Australian TV show Hey Dad! which aired in more than 20 countries from 1987.

In 2014 he was convicted of a string of child sexual offences – which he denied – against girls in the 1980s and 1990s.

The 73-year-old was granted parole by Australian authorities on Thursday.

Having renounced his Australian citizenship, the British national will be deported to the UK upon his release from prison, where he will live with his wife.

Hughes has been eligible for parole for more than two years but has twice been denied freedom over concerns about his risk to the community.

He and his family deny his crimes but have promised he will seek psychological treatment when released and that he will have no unsupervised contact with children.

Australian authorities have informed their UK counterparts of his impending release and deportation, and they have said he will be monitored. He will be released no later than 14 June.

Hughes’s 2014 trial heard evidence of sexual misconduct which had spanned 20 years. He was convicted of 10 child sexual assault offences against girls aged between seven and 15.

He abused his position of trust and exploited the naivety and youth of the children, Judge Peter Zahra said in sentencing at the time.

”The offender engaged in a systematic pattern of sexual abuse by upon young girls over a number of years,” he said.

”His conduct was brazen… he engaged in predatory behaviour.”

On Thursday, parole judge David Frearson acknowledged the decision would be hard for the actor’s victims.

“It is clear that the profound and deleterious effects on the victims… continue to this day and will probably be lifelong consequences,” he said.

“It must be particularly galling for the victims to observe the offender’s continued and obstinate denials in the face of compelling and overwhelming evidence from multiple witnesses.”

Hey Dad! was hugely popular in Australia and ran for eight seasons until 1994.