Inside the petition to remove a transgender paedophile from a women’s prison – before they attacked a tourist in Sydney’s Hyde Park after being released

Benjamin Charles Jones, a sex offender who was held in a women’s prison in Victoria while identifying as a woman, later attacked a tourist in Sydney after his release. The case has renewed scrutiny of the decision to house him at Dame Phyllis Frost Centre, where inmates had petitioned for his removal over concerns about his history and risk to women.

Jones, 49, was jailed in 2021 for attempting to rape a woman in Melbourne and served more than three years in prison. After moving to New South Wales, he stalked a 31-year-old tourist through Sydney’s CBD in October 2024 and tried to rape her in Hyde Park; he pleaded guilty to sexual assault without consent and stalking. He was sentenced to three years and four months, but was found dead in custody on 30 October, before a scheduled parole hearing.