Robert Kevin McCullough: Cops investigate if alleged court escapee switched news Caleb Runciman and Jessica EvensenThe West AustralianFri, 29 August 2025 6:56AM
Police are investigating whether an accused child sex offender managed to escape a Perth courthouse by switching clothes with another person and pretending to be somebody else.
It comes as the Department of Justice revealed 10 people had escaped from its custody over the past year — with the latest allegedly being Robert Kevin McCullough last Friday.
Mr McCullough, 39, handed himself in at Perth police station on Saturday night after he allegedly managed to escape the Central Law Courts in Perth.
The department is investigating the lead-up and procedures followed by courthouse staff before the alleged escape.
WA Police commissioner Col Blanch said on Thursday whether Mr McCullough switched clothes in the holding cells before he appeared in court, pretending to be another person, and was later granted bail on someone else’s offences, formed part of police’s own investigation into the escape.
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“It’s not unusual for people to switch clothes in a cell, particularly if they’re presenting before court, so we have to look at the reasons for why people are wearing different clothes. That’s, again, not unusual for people sharing a cell together, but that certainly forms part of the investigation,” he said.
“The most important thing is that WA Police, when notified of this person’s escape, probably knocked on about 300 doors related to this person, and knocked on in very different ways, depending on the risk.
“He had nowhere to go. He handed himself in, because we just covered and absolutely approached every single person known to him to the point where I think their own families start saying ‘you need to hand yourself in, because this pressure is immense’.
“I think that rapid back into custody outcome is what we should all be thankful for.”
Mr McCullough was facing multiple child sex charges at the time of his alleged escape, including sexually penetrating a child over the age of 13 and under the age of 16.
Police described his sex offending as “serious” but didn’t state whether they were related to children when appealing for the public’s help to catch him.
On the day of Mr McCullough’s alleged escape, his scheduled court appearance on the sex offence charges were not called until just after 5.20pm, with a warrant for his arrest issued because of a non-appearance.
Police allege he escaped from custody about 35 minutes earlier.
The Department of Justice has not said whether contracted court security staff became aware of his escape before or after the non-appearance. Whether custody processes were followed by staff is being investigated
On Sunday, a department spokeswoman said “there is nothing to indicate there was any delay in police being notified”.
After handing himself in, Mr McCullough fronted the Northbridge Magistrates Court on two new charges of escaping from lawful custody and stealing.
Magistrate Tanya Watt told the accused he was “pretending to be someone else on Friday” before he managed to “get out”.
Mr McCullough, who did not have a lawyer and was representing himself, told the court “I don’t even know what I’m doing” when asked how he wanted to proceed with the new charges.
Department of Justice director general Kylie Maj told budget estimates an investigation into the incident was an “absolute priority”.
“I don’t have a time frame yet, they’re still planning the lines of inquiry and they’ll come back to us shortly,” she said.
“Timely would mean as soon as possible.”
Attorney-General Tony Buti alleged Mr McCullough used “someone else’s name”, and described the incident as “very concerning”.
“Obviously something went wrong and I am incredibly concerned about it,” he said.
The Department of Justice told The West nine prisoners had escaped from work camps since August 2024, with each of the inmates “swiftly returned to custody”.
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