Jail the paedophile deemed too fat for prison: Thousands of Australians demand child sex fiend teacher be jailed - after a judge ruled he was too obese to be thrown behind bars

Thousands of Australians are calling for an obese paedophile who was deemed too unwell to be jailed to be locked up.

Peter John O'Neill, 61, was employed at three schools across Tasmania from 1980-91 when he sexually abused six young boys.

The 140kg former teacher was given a five-year fully-suspended sentence at Hobart's Supreme Court on September 9.

He pleaded guilty to six counts of indecent assault and one count of penetrative sexual abuse. 

But the court heard that even O'Neill 'deserved' prison he was so fat it would be too difficult to extradite him from Canberra, where he currently lives, to Hobart, where he would be jailed.

Other reasons O'Neill wasn't jailed were medical conditions such as difficulty breathing, chronic pain, severe degeneration of the lumbar spine and spinal stenosis. 

A petition has been launched to have a convicted paedophile deemed too fat for prison to be thrown behind bars

The cost of transport and COVID-19 restrictions also played a part in the decision. 

This has left survivors of O'Neill's abuse and former students of the schools where he worked at furious.

One woman has started a petition in the hopes of getting O'Neill thrown behind bars. 

'The Supreme Court judge wanted to send O'Neill to jail but said he couldn't because O'Neill lives in Canberra and getting him to Tasmania was too big a problem,' the petition read.

'But that problem isn't too big. O'Neill could and should be extradited and jailed.' 

The petition has 17,500 signatures and aims to get the Supreme Court of Tasmania to reconsider it's decision. 

Rachel Grgurevic is the woman who started the petition and a former student at one of the schools where O'Neill worked.

She told Daily Mail Australia the current sentence is an 'injustice'.

'I believe the Department of Public Prosecution should appeal the leniency of the sentence,' she said.

'This man has ruined so many lives and his actions taken many lives as well.'

It has been previously claimed it could cost anywhere between $25,000 to $40,000 to bring O'Neill to Tasmania via Medivac.

His furious victims offered to raise the $40,000 to transport O'Neill, who requires a full time carer, when his sentence was revealed earlier this month,

'The community wants people like O'Neill in jail. The cost of his crimes has been huge. Our suffering, the harm to our mental health, is immeasurable,' a former student, who can't be named for legal reasons, told The Mercury.

Former students of one of the schools where O'Neill worked posted to a Facebook group, with one saying, 'Nothing will give back what he took, but he must pay in some way'

'It would cost (up to) $40,000 to transport the obese abuser to Tasmania. We, his victims, are willing to raise that transport cost so this man has to face us and then serve his just punishment.'

Other students took to Facebook calling on their former classmates to insist the state government bring that 'piece of sh*t' back to Tasmania.

They are also requesting the Director of Public Prosecutions appeal against the lenient sentence.

'So he's gotten away with abusing kids and ruining their lives. Piece of s***. Can they appeal?' a woman wrote.

Chief Justice Alan Blow heard that one of O'Neill's victims had attempted suicide while another was admitted to a psychiatric hospital more than 50 times.

The court heard how O'Neill befriended one of the boys, who was ten, while working as his personal art tutor.

While on an overnight trip during a wild storm, the boy told O'Neill he was feeling scared.

O'Neill gave the boy a back massage in bed and then sexually abused him.

In another incident, O'Neill claimed he was sick in bed when he coaxed one 15-year-old boy to hug him. He then abused him.

The court heard that even O'Neill (circled above) 'deserved' prison he was so fat it would be too difficult to extradite him from Canberra, where he currently lives, to Hobart, where he would be jailed

That victim didn't come forward until his 40s because he felt he was to blame.

Justice Blow said O'Neill deserved to be jailed but his only option was to deliver a wholly suspended sentence as there was 'no prospect' of him being brought to Tasmania.

'Although I cannot impose the penalty he deserves, his life now is probably far more miserable than the lives of most prisoners,' Justice Blow told the Supreme Court in Hobart on Wednesday.

O'Neill is unable to travel on normal flights or any significant distance by car, while specialist medical transport by air would cost up to $40,000.

Justice Blow said O'Neill could not be locked up interstate and didn't have the money to pay a fine.

He said a home detention order was useless because O'Neill is unable to leave his house without assistance.

Justice Blow said O'Neill had impacted his victims' education irreversibly and many had experienced problems with anxiety, homelessness, holding down jobs, depression and drugs.