Corrective Services minister Joe Francis says someone is "going to get seriously hurt" after a vigilante-style Facebook page was set up to target convicted sex offender Patrick Comeagain.
The page is less than 24 hours old but already dozens of people have posted venomous comments against Comeagain. Some even suggested rallying outside a block of flats where he is suspected to be housed.
"If enough of us can confirm this, I suggest we organise a mass protest ASAP," one poster wrote.
"I fully agree, I don't want him in our area around our children. I'm a fifo (sic) worker and I fly out Sunday, but I'm available Saturday," said another.
"So you are suggesting we rally outside the front of his residing unit, how is that not going to get violent? This could be a disaster waiting to happen," pointed out one person.
Fairfax Media has alerted WA Police to the Facebook page and is awaiting comment.
Comeagain was released from prison in June after serving 15 years for sexual offences against a nine-year-old girl in 1994 and the sexual assault of two women in 1999.
The 41-year-old was moved from the Wheatbelt town only days after moving there because of community outcry.
Mr Francis, who said he could not reveal where Comeagain was living because of a Supreme Court suppression order, said the Facebook page targeting him was of "serious concern".
"I have a serious problem with this, because some person who is a little tubby and has a goatee is going to get targeted," he told Fairfax Media.
"Someone is going to get seriously hurt. There is no place in our community for vigilante groups.
"The whole thing is getting ridiculous and out-of-control."
Comeagain was placed on the Dangerous Sex Offender list in 2008 and when released from prison had 43 strict conditions placed on him. He can never use alcohol or drugs, must wear a GPS tracker for the next ten years and cannot be in contact with anyone under the age of 16 unless supervised.
He was fined $1000 in a Perth court earlier this month after breaching one of his conditions, which prohibited him from coming in contact with children.
Mr Francis said the community had become obsessed with Comeagain.
"I've got no sympathy for sex offenders, but before the Dangerous Sex Offenders Act came in, you did your 10 years and you walked free," he said.
"What about the other 19 DSO (dangerous sex offenders) in the community?
"I'd be very concerned if people start taking matters into their own hands, because that's not how justice works."
