Bradley Pen Dragon: New details emerge as to why paedophile was arrested days after being released

Police arrested serial paedophile Bradley Pen Dragon on Thursday after they allegedly found him in possession of drawings and newspaper clippings of children, The West Australian can now reveal. Detectives from the serious offender management squad will allege Dragon – who was freed from jail on Tuesday subject to 62 strict conditions – was found with up to 10 pictures of children when he was arrested in Perth on Thursday. The West has confirmed the images included drawings and pictures of children from newspapers. It’s unclear at this stage if the drawings were done by Dragon, or if he obtained them elsewhere. But the array of images were enough for him to be charged and arrested on Thursday because the pictures are a breach of his release order conditions. Dragon is prohibited from having any pictures, drawings or sketches whatsoever of children, whether indecent or not, as part of his release order. The new revelations come as Dragon was remanded in custody on Friday for at least two weeks after he faced the Perth Magistrates Court. The West Australian on Thursday night revealed police had taken Dragon into custody and was later charged with one count of contravening a requirement of a supervision order. During Friday’s brief appearance, Dragon — who still sports his long hair and beard — was read the charge and asked if he understood it. He said he did. His lawyer then said they would not be making an application for bail, and asked for Dragon to be remanded in custody until July 6. His swift arrest proves authorities have been watching Dragon’s every move after Mark McGowan promised he would be monitored “very closely”. The 62-year-old was granted freedom from Acacia Prison on Tuesday on a strict supervision order, which includes 62 strict conditions under the WA Government’s High Risk Serious Offender laws. “The court let him out, subject to conditions,” Mr McGowan said. “Unsurprisingly, he has been rearrested for an alleged breach. So that’s now a matter before the court.” The Premier said the 62 conditions applied to Dragon and the fact police swooped on an alleged breach within 48 hours showed “police and authorities took it very seriously”. Dragon’s most recent victim, the woman at the centre of the knife attack, earlier this week said she was terrified he was free, but supported “vigilance not vigilantism”. Mr McGowan said his Government had “toughened” the laws around High Risk Serious Offenders and that the Director of Public Prosecutions argued for him to be kept behind bars but that the court decided otherwise. “We can’t do anything more than the toughest laws in Australia to deal with these people,” he said. Dragon has a decades-long history of offending, including against young girls in Thailand. Evidence shows he has a “long held strong belief that sexual contact with children is a positive experience for the child, and sexual contact with children is a natural behaviour.