SYDNEY - AN AUSTRALIAN paedophile who has been driven out of several towns by angry mobs was holed up in a church facility on Tuesday as authorities warned against vigilante action.

Irate residents ran Dennis Ferguson, 60, out of the rural town of Miles in Queensland state last week, just two days after he was released from jail.

He was then sent to a church-run facility near Brisbane but a group of about 60 people, one carrying a noose, gathered outside to demand his removal once they discovered his location.

'One was even waving a noose around. I'm ashamed that my fellow citizens would act like that. We don't behave like that in a civilised society.'

Ferguson was jailed for 14 years in 1988 for sexually abusing three children. After his release he was hounded out of several towns as residents discovered his presence among them.

Then in November 2005, he was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a five-year-old girl and had been held in custody awaiting trial - until last week, when a judge threw out the charges and released him.

The judge questioned the evidence against Ferguson and found that pre-trial publicity meant there was little chance of finding a objective jury in Queensland.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd joined the debate last week when he said that residents should know when a paedophile moved into their area.

'My general view is that the community has a right to know,' Mr Rudd said.

But Ms Spence said Ferguson could end up on the street if he was hounded out of his latest accommodation, presenting a problem for both authorities and residents.

'He may well be a homeless person out the front of their houses if we hound him out of this residence,' she said.

'People have to think about what they want us to do with this man. Bearing in mind that he is free, we can't force him to live in any particular accommodation.' -- AFP