A convicted paedophile who was deported from Australia was working as a lifeguard at a holiday camp in the UK until his background was uncovered by reporters.
Dean Carelse, 43, was convicted in 2022 of more than 20 offences including indecent treatment of a child under 16, possessing child exploitation material and grooming a child under 16.
The offences occurred while he was a teacher at Matthew Flinders Anglican College on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.
According to a decision of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal in April 2022, Carelse, a South African citizen who had been issued a visa by the school which was subsequently cancelled, wished to stay in Australia after completing his prison sentence.
His appeal against a decision not to issue him a visa was unsuccessful. He had been detained in immigration detention after being released from prison.
Carelse was subsequently deported but then became employed as a lifeguard at a Butlin’s resort in Minehead in Somerset, south-west England.
The ABC, which first reported on Carelse’s employment, said he worked as a lifeguard for 10 months from early 2023, and was sacked this week after Butlin’s was contacted by the reporters, according to the ABC.
A Butlin’s spokesperson said the company investigated Carelse as soon it was contacted by the ABC and discovered that he had not told the truth on his application.
“We carried out an enhanced check and right to work status which came back clear. The team member falsified information on their application, and we can confirm they no longer work for us. In addition, there have been no complaints or issues raised against them.
“Due to the severity of this we have reviewed our policy and can confirm additional checks for existing international team and future international applicants will be carried out.”
In refusing his visa appeal, AAT member Tim Connellan expressed concern about several elements of Carelse’s evidence, including his response to reports he had also been asked to leave a school in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, because of allegations regarding his conduct in the early 2000s. Carelse told the AAT he had been cleared of those allegations.
But he also told the tribunal he had been seeing a clinical psychologist, which Connellan found was not entirely true.
“The applicant’s evidence at the hearing that he felt the charges, particularly those regarding grooming and theft were not 100% true and were taken out of context, despite the fact he pleaded guilty to all charges, leads the tribunal to question whether the applicant’s remorse and contrition are genuine,” Connellan said.
“The tribunal is concerned about the applicant’s repeated claim that his offending applied to a short period in his life. The tribunal finds that the offending which led to his charges and convictions, particularly with regards to possession of child exploitation material and grooming were conducted over a period of well in excess of a year which the tribunal does not accept as being a short period of time but rather evidence of his being a serious repeat offender and means the tribunal is not satisfied he will comply with [conditions] if released into the community.
“The tribunal does not accept that the evidence provided of communications with an overseas clinical psychologist demonstrate a genuine attempt to pursue counselling but rather have been conducted in an attempt to persuade the tribunal of his intention to pursue rehabilitation.”
