EXCLUSIVE: 'Warning' flyers sent to street about resident sex offender

A flyer has been delivered to mail boxes around Onehunga advising residents that a convicted sex offender is living nearby.

The flyer was delivered last week and, on bright yellow paper, reads "warning, be constantly vigilant, there is a convicted sex offender in your area now on parole".

The flyer has the man's full name and street address and reveals that he was convicted on 23 counts of sex offending.

The Herald has chosen not to name the man or publish the street where he lives.

In April 2007 he was sentenced to 11 years in prison for multiple sexual offences.

He became eligible for parole in October 2010 and was granted an early release in 2014.

After the flyer was distributed a concerned resident contacted the Sensible Sentencing Trust - saying he was worried about the safety of his children with the man living on the same street.

Trust spokesman Garth McVicar said the residents were planning to hold a meeting about the issue.

The trust would support them in any way it could.

The man is subject to parole conditions until next February when his sentence officially ends.

Those conditions include:

• attending a psychiatric assessment to identify any "emerging issues" and facilitate treatment, and to attend programmes as recommended to the satisfaction of his probation officer

• to attend "relapse prevention case work" with his probation officer

• to live at and not move from an approved address without permission

• not to undertake employment, paid or unpaid, without the prior written approval of his probation officer

• not to associate or have any contact with any person under 16 unless another adult aged over 20 and approved in writing by his probation officer, is present

• not to communicate or associate with the victims of his offending without prior written consent from his probation officer.

The Herald has learned that the man has never breached any of his parole conditions, nor has he been charged with any new offences since his release.

Police said they were aware of the flyer and had alerted the man to it.

But they could take no further action.

"Unless the material in the flyer is subject to court orders, such as name suppression, the publication is not illegal as long as the information is true," said Detective Senior Sergeant Rick Veacock.

"If the author was identified then police would consider speaking to that person about the intent of the publication, however, at this stage no offence has been committed and the author/distributor of the flyer is unknown."