Sex assault highlights flaws

A recently released prisoner sexually assaulted a woman at a motel where he had been put up by Corrections and the Ministry of Social Development.

The incident in the South Island, along with another incident in the North Island, both in mid 2017, highlighted the need for better communication between MSD and Corrections regarding releasing prisoners into emergency housing.

The man was arrested and charged but found unfit to enter a plea and a compulsory treatment order was made, according to Corrections regional commissioner Chris O’Brien-Smith.

Stuff earlier reported dozens of vulnerable children were placed at a motel where a notorious child sex offender was staying, from April 30 to July 25 this year, while a project to improve communication between the two government departments was ongoing.

Documents released to Stuff in October showed Corrections and MSD started working on a new system for dealing with released prisoners in emergency housing after two incidents in mid-2017 highlighted the need for better coordination. Stuff requested further information about the two incidents and on Saturday O’Brien-Smith responded with details about one of them.

O’Brien-Smith said that in May 2017 an offender was released from prison following an 11-month sentence for threatening his partner. The man was meant to live with his family but ‘‘this arrangement became unavailable on the day of his release’’. Emergency accommodation was arranged at a motel for seven days, while further arrangements were made.

‘‘Corrections staff advised the motel owner that he was a recently released prisoner but did not provide all of the specific information relating to his previous offending or risk,’’ O’Brien Smith said.

The offender stayed there for another seven days.

On May 26, three days before a supported living arrangement was going to be made available, the man was charged with sexual assault. He was found unfit to enter a plea and was transferred to hospital. ‘‘The chief probation officer carried out a full review of the management of the offender, and all of the recommendations have been implemented. They met with the victim of the assault to discuss the review of our management of the offender, and to express sincere regret.’’ Recommendations from the review included providing feedback to the staff on the findings; working to develop an agreement with Work and Income regarding emergency accommodation for released prisoners; providing guidance to staff about what information can be disclosed to accommodation providers; implementation of forums for discussing offenders of concern in the district; and reviewing the workload and risk distribution in the district to ensure staffing levels are appropriate to manage caseloads.

Last week, in a separate response, Corrections acting national commissioner Ben Clark noted that incident and another set the ball rolling for better information sharing between Corrections and MSD.

‘‘Corrections followed standard incident reporting and review procedures for both cases ... Corrections has had a new process in place with MSD [since October 15] for providing emergency accommodation to offenders subject to court and parole board-imposed sentences and orders in the community.

‘‘This process provides that Corrections sources and funds emergency accommodation for the highest risk offenders, with MSD providing accommodation for all other offenders. We have also strengthened information sharing processes between Corrections and MSD in relation to the placement of offenders in emergency accommodation.’’

Emergency accommodation was arranged at a motel.