Minister appeals over NSW pedo's release

The NSW mental health minister is appealing against the release from custody of a pedophile who allegedly threatened to kill his occupational therapist.

The man has been detained as a forensic patient since 2002 when he was found not guilty by way of mental illness of four counts of aggravated sexual assault.

The NSW Court of Appeal on Wednesday heard the man was effectively under house arrest after being granted conditional release by the Mental Health Review Tribunal in December.

It was his 34th review.

Barrister Michael Windsor SC, for the minister, said the tribunal erred in its "failure to grapple with the risk" and "gravity" of harm to members of the public upon the man's release.

He'd been diagnosed as a pedophile with "strong psychopathic personality traits" and an intellectual disability, Mr Windsor said.

He said the man allegedly accessed the internet on another patient's mobile phone last November.

The phone's internet search history revealed the user had looked at porn.

At a later conference with his occupational therapist, the man allegedly threatened to kill her "by throwing boiling water on her", Mr Windsor said.

Yet the matter was not heard by the tribunal before it granted conditional release, he said.

The man now lives at a Port Stephens property with other patients who have an intellectual disability, he said.

The court heard the man had developed a close relationship with another adult male resident and the pair had been seen holding hands a few times, which staff said was grooming behaviour.

The man's barrister, Patrick Griffin SC, said the relationship was "quite innocent".

He said because the man was still considered to be a forensic patient there was a "continuous rolling review" of his conditional release.

"Their whole history is available on each and every occasion to the tribunal," he said.

The court will hand down its decision at a later date.