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Child, Youth and Family (CYF) has apologised after a convicted sex offender it moved into a Napier home was seen several times in the next-door property of a mother and her five-year-old daughter.
CYF paid the mother $18,000 to help her move house after she saw a convicted paedophile in her back yard at least 14 times in April, the Sunday News reported today.
The woman, who would not reveal her name to the newspaper, said she once saw the offender with his face pressed up against one of her windows and smiling at her daughter.
She said CYF told her the 18-year-old paedophile who was convicted in 2006 for preying on four young girls in Auckland was supposed to be under 24-hour supervision by three people and alarmed at night.
But CYF staff told her they were unable to answer many questions she had, other than to say that her neighbour was not someone that should be near her daughter.
She was told of his offences subsequently by police, who were unaware he had been moved into the area.
"I wanted an agreement from CYF no one else like him would be moved into that house and they couldn't guarantee it," she said.
"So I told them I would be selling the family home and they agreed to give me $18,000 to relocate."
The offender was subsequently given a 12-month suspended sentence in Napier District Court after admitting breaching his terms of supervision by being on the woman's property, the Sunday News reported.
CYF deputy chief executive Ray Smith confirmed the payment had been made.
"I sincerely regret that (the woman) and her daughter came to feel unsafe in their home," he said.
"We felt that the least we could do was to contribute to their relocation costs in recognition of any distress caused as a result of these events."
After the woman contacted CYF the paedophile was moved to another house.
The woman she believed the offender's new house was within walking distance of the old one and close to a primary school, which she found distressing.
Mr Smith said the offender was in a safe environment under 24 hour supervision and that police knew where he was.
Napier National MP Chris Tremain, who helped the woman draft a letter to CYF to ensure they covered her moving costs, said the relocation payment to the woman was the only way it could help the woman and her daughter to feel safer.
- NZPA
