Robert Kevin McCullough: Accused child sex offender faces court over alleged escape from custody

Attorney-General Tony Buti says he is not sure if an accused child sex offender was challenged by court staff when he allegedly gave them a false name before escaping from custody on Friday.

Police arrested Robert Kevin McCullough, 39, on Saturday night, more than 24 hours after he allegedly managed to escape custody at the Central Law Courts in Perth.

Mr McCullough appeared in Northbridge Magistrates Court on Sunday, and in a bizarre mumbling rant, said he was handed “bail papers” before his alleged getaway.

Magistrate Tanya Watt told the accused he was “pretending to be someone else on Friday” before he managed to “get out”.

“Is that refreshing your mind?” she added.

The accused fugitive, who did not have a lawyer and was representing himself, told the court, “I don’t even know what I’m doing” when asked how he wanted to proceed with two new charges of stealing and escaping from lawful custody.

Magistrate Watt remanded him in custody ahead of his next court appearance on September 19.

At a press conference on Sunday, the Attorney-General said he was not sure if he was challenged by security staff when he allegedly gave “someone else’s name to be able to escape custody”, which he said was “very concerning”.

“Obviously something went wrong and I am incredibly concerned about it,” he said.

“Thankfully, he is back in custody, and we will have a full investigation and make changes if needed.”

Asked if any staff members had been stood down over the incident, Mr Buti said “it only happened on Friday”.

“It is the weekend, my main concern is to find out exactly what happened and make changes if they need to be made,” he said.

Police said Mr McCullough was arrested at 8.45pm on Saturday after he presented to Perth police station.

Detective Superintendent Kellie Taylor, of the offender management division, on Saturday said Mr McCullough had initially faced court on Friday over “serious sexual offences” before being remanded in custody when he escaped.

“We’re still exploring the circumstances of how Mr McCullough left the Perth Central Law Courts. It’s not believed that any level of violence was used in his escape and has more to do, we believe, with deceit and trickery,” Supt Taylor said.

Court documents show Mr McCullough is facing nine child sex offences, including four counts of indecent dealing with a child aged between 13 and under 16.

He is also facing two counts of sexually penetrated a child over the age of 13 and under 16.

The child sex offences were not read out during his court appearance on Sunday.

Mr McCullough was captured on CCTV allegedly fleeing through Stirling Gardens and Elizabeth Quay after his escape.

The Department of Justice has been contacted for comment.