Offender could be tracked

A recidivist sexual predator, who narrowly avoided being jailed indefinitely for offending against young girls, may be tracked for the next 10 years.

John Burnard Lynch, 72, is coming to the end of a four-year jail term for indecently assaulting a girl over the course of three years.

The offending started on the night of the girl’s ninth birthday party and included him showing her pornographic films.

He was found guilty after a district court trial, but was sentenced in the High Court at Palmerston North in 2014 because of his extensive history of sexual offending.

He has more than 20 convictions for sexual offending, most of them against young girls.

When he was sentenced, Justice Joe Williams declined to give Lynch the open-ended preventive detention by a slim margin.

Three psychologists found Lynch was a high risk of reoffending, with the judge finding it especially concerning Lynch offended against children while in sexual relationships with adults.

Lynch’s health and the fact he could be supervised upon release tipped the scales toward the finite sentence, the judge said.

He was in a wheelchair when he returned to the High Court in Palmerston North on Wednesday to hear the Department of Corrections had applied to have him subject to an extended supervision order.

The orders allow Corrections to monitor and manage high-risk sexual and violent offenders when they have been released from prison.

Criminals who breach an extended supervision order can be jailed for up to two years.

The case will be back in court in October.