Paedophile John Millwood has been stripped of honorary positions bestowed upon him by the University of Tasmania.
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And the 71-year-old has also given up his life membership with arts fraternity the John Glover Society.
Millwood pleaded guilty in November to molesting a boy multiple times between 1983 and 1989.
He was jailed for four years in December.
Since then, his victim, who cannot be named, has been advocating for Millwood to be stripped of public acknowledgments awarded to him for his dedication to Launceston’s heritage and arts scene.
Those honours include a heritage award from the City of Launceston, honorary research associate and honorary associate positions at UTAS and his life membership with the John Glover Society.
Correspondence between UTAS acting vice-chancellor Professor Mike Calford and spokeswoman for Millwood’s victim Dayna Dennison show the university was quick to act last week.
“I am pleased to say our university community seeks to uphold… values at all time, in both what we do and how we act,” Professor Calford wrote.
“I can advise that Mr Millwood no longer holds any honorary titles with our university and his formal relationship with the university has ceased.”
The John Glover Society wrote to Ms Dennison advising her that Millwood had “voluntarily relinquished his award.”
City of Launceston Council is considering its options regarding Millwood’s heritage award.
The award was given to Millwood in 2009 for restoration work he did on a historical house in St John Street, Launceston.
In December, council general manager Robert Dobrzynski said the award had nothing to do with Millwood’s character and therefore he would be allowed to keep it.
But the council changed its tune last month, after Ms Dennison took a petition to a council meeting and called for reconsideration.
Mayor Albert van Zetten said the matter would return to the council’s agenda at the next meeting and he was “sure the notice of motion (would) pass unanimously” to revoke Millwood’s award.
Ms Dennison said: “We are pleased that as a result of our advocacy, our community are beginning to see how important it is for convicted paedophiles to be stripped of any recognitions.
“Most importantly, it paves the way for other victims to come forward without feeling intimidated by a criminal’s public persona.”
Millwood has appealed his sentenced on the grounds that it is excessive and facts of the case were overlooked by the judge.
