Suburbs rebel as sex crims move in
Parents oppose sex offenders in neighbourhoods 522 managed by Corrections Department 312 are not monitored
Most of us have met somebody who has been affected by sex abuse and that scars somebody for life. Palmerston North mum Rebecca Ludlow
‘‘We want him gone.’’
That’s the message from Michelle Brown, a Palmerston North parent who was this week notified that a registered sex offender was about to be placed in her neighbourhood.
Brown and her daughters, aged 6 and 12, live in the suburb of Roslyn, which has four schools and five early childhood facilities.
‘‘We don’t want to sound heartless, but we’re worried,’’ Brown said. ‘‘We don’t want to live our lives looking over our shoulders.’’
Every month a community like Roslyn is thrown into turmoil by the discovery of sex offenders living in their midst. Three weeks ago, Corrections faced stinging criticism for placing 16 high-risk sex offenders in boarding houses in the Auckland suburb of O¯ ta¯huhu without informing residents.
More than 300 people on the child sex offender register are living in the community but are not monitored or managed by Corrections, as they are not subject to a sentence or court supervision order.
Police figures, released to the Sunday Star-Times, show 2119 people listed on the new Child Sex Offender Register last year. Further information shows the Corrections Department was monitoring 522, another 1285 were in prison, but the remaining 312 weren’t subject to any sentence or order managed by Corrections.
Waikato had the most offenders in the community with 81, but most of those were under Corrections management. The data indicates there were 113 unmonitored sex offenders in Auckland and the upper North Island, 128 in Hamilton, Tauranga and the central North Island, 58 in Wellington and the lower North Island, and just 9 in the South Island.
In Wairarapa/Manawatu, where 37 offenders are being monitored, there are as many again living without monitoring. Schools in Roslyn have been notified about the registered sex offender.
Many residents are upset and have called a meeting this Friday. They have invited local MPs, Corrections and the Sensible Sentencing Trust.
Mother-of-two Rebecca Ludlow, whose daughter will start at Roslyn School in August, said: ‘‘Most of us have met somebody who has been affected by sex abuse and that scars somebody for life. We don’t want that for our kids.’’
Roslyn parents have been discussing starting adultsupervised walking school buses, and car pools.
Ruahine Kindergarten Association general manager Alison Rudzki said Corrections recently met the association to advise of the offender moving in. That situation was probably more common than most people would think, she said, but there were solid procedures in place to minimise the children’s risk, and Corrections was now better at communicating.
The Child Sex Offender register was instituted in October 2016, to help police and Corrections monitor offenders. A person stays on the register for either eight years, 15 years, or for life depending on the severity of their offending.
Department of Corrections deputy national commissioner Andy Milne said offenders were only allowed to live in places where risks could be safely managed.
‘‘Finding accommodation for offenders can be extremely difficult. Being homeless increases an offender’s likelihood of committing a crime. Sourcing accommodation for those convicted of child sex offences is one of our biggest challenges.’’
The Sensible Sentencing Trust believes the answer lies in housing them on prison land.
‘‘They are still free to come and go,’’ said spokesman Scott Guthrie. ‘‘They can go do their shopping and they can go to work, but they have to come home to live there. And they’re safe, the community is safe.’’
O¯ ta¯huhu resident Fiona Stevens led an online petition calling for the removal of 16 offenders from boarding houses in her neighbourhood.
‘‘It’s really gutting watching television and learning sex offenders are living in your suburb. I don’t know where it is, is this my street, where are they?’’