A convicted child predator has died following an alleged altercation at a prison in Queensland, Australia.
Shannon Daniel Norgate, 28, was hospitalized after an incident with two other inmates at the Maryborough Correctional Centre on November 26 and died on Monday. Queensland Police confirmed that Norgate was found unresponsive around 9 a.m. after the attack.
Norgate had a long history of sexual offenses against children. In 2020, he was convicted of multiple child sex crimes, including the 2019 assault of two young boys in a school bathroom while posing as a security guard. Court documents revealed that he led a four-year-old boy by the hand and sexually abused him while a five-year-old witnessed the attack. He was sentenced to four years in prison but served just 14 months before his sentence was suspended.
In 2023, Norgate was caught grooming a 12-year-old boy, discussing sex and drugs, and offering money for sexual acts. Despite being described by the judge as a “true predator,” he received a two-year prison sentence.
Norgate also faced additional charges over the years, including violating offender reporting requirements and possessing a needle. In 2020, shortly after his suspended sentence, he was found living across from a Brisbane primary school and was forced to relocate by police. Vigilante groups reportedly tracked his movements online, and video later emerged showing a member of the public punching him at a Brisbane transit center.
Prison justice since judges will not do it
Does Australia have any normal prison sentences? Is this the only way to get justice in Australia is to hope someone kills theses predators in prison?