Paedophile changes sex behind bars

A convicted paedophile has been released on parole in Auckland under a new identity, having changed name and gender behind bars.

The 33-year-old was sentenced under the birth name Rory Francis.

He served six and a half years in prison for a raft of sex crimes against two young children over the course of three years.

Francis had reportedly been diagnosed as HIV positive before the offending, which came after an earlier jail term for sexually assaulting a 7-year-old boy.

Rory Francis now identifies as a female and has changed her name to Laken Mckay.

She was paroled in May and is now living in Auckland.

Mckay’s release had a number of special release conditions, including a night-time curfew and not associating with people under 16 unless directly supervised by an approved adult.

The electronic monitoring finished this week, but Mckay is still subject to the curfew, 11pm to 7am, until the end of her sentence in September 2019.

Corrections refused to say at what point in her jail term Mckay had changed her name and gender, citing her privacy.

It also would not comment on whether Mckay had been transferred to a women’s prison following her identity change.

‘‘Corrections is managing the offender as per the conditions imposed by the New Zealand Parole Board,’’ a department spokesperson said.

’’[The department] is aware that this offender has changed her name and we are in regular communication with other agencies.’’

The spokesperson added that transgender prisoners are able to apply to the department’s chief executive to be placed in a prison where they identify with the gender of the prisoners managed in that prison.