Tight controls set for sex predator

A child sex offender may soon be released from custody but will be under intensive monitoring on prison land for one year due to his high risk of reoffending.

Tommy Apera Pori, 56, was born in the Cook Islands and committed a number of sexual offences there before moving to New Zealand in

2005. In 2006 he had unlawful sexual connection with a

9-year-old girl. He was jailed for five years.

In 2011 Corrections obtained an extended supervision order for 10 years. Since then Pori has breached the order several times and has been convicted of serious violent offences.

Pori minimised his sexual offending and was ‘‘highly sexually preoccupied and compulsive’’, a health assessment report said.

‘‘He has demonstrated a preparedness to invade people’s homes with the intention of finding a victim despite others being in close proximity,’’ the report stated.

Pori did not complete psychological treatment in prison and he presented a very high risk of further sexual offending. ‘‘Based on his history this could range from indecent assault to rape, of young girls or adult females,’’ the report said.

Last month Corrections applied to the High Court at Hamilton for intensive monitoring as a special condition of the extended supervision order. Intensive monitoring requires an offender to be accompanied and monitored, for up to 24 hours a day, by an approved person for up to a year. In granting the application the judge noted Pori’s offending ‘‘which typically involves invading his victim’s bedroom at night’’.

Pori’s latest offending occurred in 2016 when he believed his female neighbour wanted sex. He entered her home but she was alerted by a barking dog.

Pori’s extended supervision is now not due to expire until October 2024. The date of his release is yet to be determined. A Corrections spokesman said that when Pori was released from prison he would reside in accommodation on prison land.

There are 199 offenders living in the community under extended supervision orders. Eight are subject to intensive monitoring.