The offender was a teenager when he was jailed for a raft of sex abuse against his foster siblings. He was acquitted of raping his young cousin but later admitted that offending. Photo / STOCK

Teen sex abuser back in community- Corrections bid for intense monitoring revealed

News
Crime

Author: Anna Leask,
Publish Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2023, 2:29PM

A teenager jailed for sexually abusing foster siblings put in his parents’ care by Child Youth and Family was acquitted on further charges of raping his 9-year-old cousin - but later admitted that offending in prison as he tried to get parole.

The offender, now in his 20s, was only released early so the board could impose conditions to enable him to be monitored in the community.

And Corrections even tried to get an extended supervision order as it and the police were concerned about his “medium to high risk” of further sexual offending.

In 2017 the sexual abuser - who cannot be named due to a permanent suppression order - was jailed for more than four years for repeatedly sexually abusing two children who had been put in his parents’ care by CYF, now known as the Ministry for Children, Oranga Tamariki.

The victims were a 7-year-old girl and her 8-year-old brother.

The offending came to light after police executed a search warrant on the family home in relation to allegations he had abused his cousin when she was 9.

He was later charged with raping, sexually violating and indecently assaulting the little girl.

However, after a trial in the Youth Court a judge found him not guilty.

He became eligible for parole on the charges relating to his foster siblings in October 2018 and was refused an early release four times.

In 2022, four months before his formal sentence end date, the board agreed parole with strict conditions.

The Parole Board released him early so it could impose the conditions to protect the public and to ensure the sex abuser could be monitored.

Had he served his full sentence he would have been legally entitled to leave prison without restriction.

Panel convenor Mary More said reports showed the offender was “compliant and respectful” but a prison farm instructor who worked with him said he “shows self-entitlement, he is self-centred and lacks empathy”.

A lawyer for the offender claimed he “remained focused on his core treatment, and that he had made advances including setting healthy boundaries”.

The board also received a submission from the family of the offender’s cousin which raised concerns about his release.

“[He] was found not guilty by a jury of that offending but he subsequently admitted to both the police and the victim that the offending had in fact taken place,” said More.

“[He] told the board that he has remorse about the offending against [his cousin]), and accepts he sexually offended against her.”

More said while there were concerns about the offender, “any residual risk” he continued to pose to the public could be addressed with conditions.

The board agreed to release the offender and imposed a number of special conditions that had to stay in place for six months after he left prison.

The conditions remained in place until October last year and included electronic monitoring and a ban on entering four specific North Island towns and districts where his victims and cousin live.

The teen abused his foster siblings and later admitted offending against his younger cousin - which a judge had found him not guilty of at a trial. Photo/123RF

He was also forbidden from having any contact or associating with anyone under the age of 16 and, from loitering “near any place where children under 16 are congregating” including any school, early childhood education centre, park, library, swimming pool, other recreational facilities, church, or elsewhere.

Finally, the board ordered him not to possess or use any electronic device capable of accessing the internet unless approved by his probation officer in writing - and if approved, to make that device available upon request to be checked.

About a year before the offender was granted parole, Corrections made an application to the District Court for an Extended Supervision Order.

Several hearings were held about this after the offender was released and the proceedings were put on hold while he was assessed by a “third” psychologist.

In December last year the psychologist’s report was provided to the court.

After considering the report the presiding judge asked if Corrections still wanted to pursue the ESO.

The department subsequently withdrew its application.

The judge’s decision was provided to the Herald but gave no reasons for the withdrawal.

A Corrections spokesperson today explained the situation.

“An assessment was completed for this individual during their time in custody in October 2021, which deemed him at high risk of sexual reoffending,” they said.

“As a result, we made the decision to apply to the Courts for an ESO to enable us to further strengthen our management and monitoring of this person following their release.

“In December 2022 we applied for an Interim Supervision Order (ISO), as his parole conditions were due to expire on 3 January 2023. An ISO allows us to manage and monitor people until the determination of an ESO application.

“This was declined by the Judge.”

Corrections said between May 2022 and December 2022 two further assessments were completed and “both concluded that this person was not considered to be a high risk of sexual reoffending”.

“On 2 February 2023 we withdrew the ESO application as he no longer met the high-risk threshold he was initially assessed at in October 2021,” said the spokesperson.

“Since the initial assessment in October 2021, this person had completed further one-on-one treatment and been safely residing in the community in compliance with their conditions from April 2022.”

Since his release, the offender has set up a Facebook page where he has shared photographs of himself with his family - including young children.

Under Facebook’s rules convicted sex offenders are not allowed to use the platform.

However, as the offender has permanent suppression, reporting him is problematic.

His page also shows that he has appeared at venues on a performance basis.

The performances appear to be for those over the age of 18.