Ageing sex offender to be freed on parole

The risks can be managed for an elderly man who committed sex offences against one wife and has since remarried, the Parole Board has decided.

Neil Graham Pitceathly, now 77, was serving an 18-year jail term that began in 2009. He also had to pay the victim $50,000 as part of the sentence.

He was found guilty by a jury in Tauranga of 60 charges of stupefying his wife with intent to commit sexual violation, 74 charges of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection, 17 charges of sexual violation by rape, and 61 charges of possessing intimate visual recordings.

Pitceathly’s crimes were horrifically revealed to his then wife when, suspecting he was being unfaithful, she took his laptop to a technician to bypass its security. She found many photographs and one video of herself being violated in various ways while unconscious.

Pitceathly has since remarried, and lived with his current wife for about two years before he was jailed.

The Parole Board said Pitceathly was believed for years to not take responsibility for his offending, but the board was told this had changed on a treatment programme earlier this year.

Pitceathly was assessed as posing a medium to high risk of further sexual offending in the context of a relationship that had become dysfunctional. The board said it assessed his risk to the victim, his current wife, and any possible future partners.

The victim told the board she was still concerned for her safety. Pitceathly is not allowed to go to the region where she lives for two years, and his presence can be electronically monitored.

He was repeatedly refused parole, but had recently been allowed out of prison to attend relationship counselling with his wife, and alone.

She was steadfast in her support, and the board described her as being ‘‘somewhat defensive’’ when it was suggested that she and Pitceathly should initially live apart when he was released, to allow their relationship to re-establish.

The board said the decision was finely balanced. It could not release Pitceathly unless he would not pose an undue risk to the safety of the community or any class of person in it.

It decided that release conditions, with the support of a psychologist and a probation officer, could manage the risk.

The board had reservations about him living with his wife and the couple’s apparent agreement that instead of her having her own safety plan should she be concerned about relationship issues, it should be part of Pitceathly’s safety plan.

He is due to be released on January 13, and to have a monitoring hearing with the board in June.

Pitceathly can be recalled to resume serving his jail term until the sentence ends in 2027.

The Parole Board said the decision was finely balanced.