The release of convicted sex offender Stewart Murray Wilson less than three months ago has reportedly already cost taxpayers more than double it would to keep him imprisoned for a year.
According to figures released under the Official Information Act to the Dominion Post, the Department of Corrections has spent $209,313 on Wilson's release up until the 14th of last month.
By comparison it costs about $100,000 to keep a prisoner in jail for a year.
Wilson was released into a self-care unit on Whanganui Prison land on August 29, after serving 18 years of a 21-year sentence for sexual offending against women and girls including rape, indecent assault, stupefying, wilful ill-treatment of a child and bestiality between 1971 and 1994.
According to the figures released to the Dominion Post, the $209,313 bill includes the cost of Wilson's relocation from Rolleston Prison to Whanganui, the defence of legal action by Wilson and Wanganui District Council, and the cost of the self-care unit and the two-bedroom house Wilson recently moved into.
