Ferguson was forced by public hostility and news media attention to relocate his residence on numerous occasions, from various locations in New South Wales and Queensland.

"[6] Ferguson claimed he was innocent, accusing one of the boys he molested of committing the crimes,[8] but a jury found him guilty of all counts of abduction and assault of the three children.

[6][7] While in jail he refused to take part in rehabilitation programs,[9] and attempted to obtain police photographs of his victims under the Freedom of Information Act.

A court convicted him under the NSW Child Protection Offenders Registration Act, and he was sentenced to a further 15 months' prison in the John Morony Correctional Centre.

[14][15] After being released from jail in 2004, Ferguson was forced to move from numerous locations in Queensland, due to public pressure and media attention.

Some residents of the area were outraged at Ferguson's presence, after news organisations revealed where he was living - near a primary school and playgrounds.

[24] While the safety order was denied by a judge, they did succeed in obtaining an order requiring him to notify the child protection authority before engaging in charity activities that would put him in contact with children, a precaution that was prompted after he was spotted selling children's toys for a charity for which he had registered using his middle name, Ray.

[26] In 2010, controversy arose when a portrait of Ferguson with his mentor, Brett Collins from Justice Action, was entered in the Archibald Prize.

NSW Police obtained an order requiring Ferguson to notify the Child Protection Authority before engaging in any charity work that could put him in contact with children.

[28] In September 2009, in response to public anger at Ferguson living in the Ryde area in the Northern Suburbs region of Sydney, the Government of New South Wales under Premier Nathan Rees and the Housing Minister David Borger moved to introduce legislation to allow the government to evict child sex offenders from public housing.

Critics dubbed the legislation the Dennis Ferguson Act, and said it was created as a result of the state government caving in to vigilantism.

However, friends said that Ferguson left no suicide note and was feeling confident about his upcoming court case, after being caught trying to sign up to do volunteer work with children in Bondi Junction in October and November.

In an interview with ABC News, Rosevear said that Ferguson was "honest about the dimensions of his own life, both victimisation and perpetration" and stated his opinion that such honesty is "the biggest predictor of someone's resolution.