KEY POINTS:
Only months after a sexual predator was deported from Australia last year he forced a man in Christchurch to undergo a prolonged sexual assault.
The assault has outraged critics, who say the Government has not kept its promises to monitor offenders sent back across the Tasman.
Johnathan Andrew Smallbon was deported from Australia after serving jail time for sex offences between 1999 and 2002.
Yesterday the 30-year-old admitted holding a younger man against his will overnight, repeatedly sexually violating him, and threatening to kill him while holding a knife to his throat.
The attack, lasting into New Year's Eve, has left his 24-year-old victim severely traumatised.
In 2002, a spokesman for then Justice Minister Phil Goff told the Herald the minister recognised there was a gap in the system around deported offenders and the Ministry of Justice was working on a report to address it.
The comments came as rapist Rodney James McCormick and mentally ill offender Justin Morgan were deported to New Zealand, where they had no family or support.
In 2005, three Rotorua men, deported from Australia after serving lengthy prison spells for violent crimes, were jailed for a violent invasion at the Te Puke home of Peter and Maggie Bentley.
When asked this month what had been done since 2002, a ministry spokesman told the Herald: "The Government investigated the possibility of imposing parole-like conditions on offenders deported to New Zealand after serving prison sentences in Australia.
"The Government concluded that the proposal was impractical because it would require the New Zealand Government and Australian federal and state governments to agree on a reciprocal system of information sharing and enforcement and pass enabling legislation."
The Government instead relies on Interpol notifying New Zealand police of the arrival of a deported offender.
But police spokesman Jon Neilson said they did not always get told of such people.
In the case of Smallbon, Mr Neilson said he understood police knew of his arrival but not the specifics "in terms of the nature of his record".
Sensible Sentencing Trust spokesman Garth McVicar said something should have been put in place.
"It is system failure that is making more victims out of innocent people, and that is unforgivable. We won't get a change until the [Justice] Minister is a victim of crime like this himself."
NZ First law and order spokesman Ron Mark said it was "ludicrous" and unacceptable that no arrangement was in place between the two countries.
The Government barred non-nationals who had sexually offended from entering the country, but seemed unable to identify and protect the public from returning New Zealand nationals who had seriously offended.
He also questioned why the New Zealand police officer permanently stationed in Canberra, and the NZ High Commissioner were not keeping New Zealand police informed of the return and records of such offenders.
Criminologist Greg Newbold said if serious crimes were committed in New Zealand, measures were taken to monitor offenders, and it should be the same for those committed overseas.
"If there is a particular type of offending in Australia or any other country ... clearly that represents a risk. If someone is being deported, there should be some kind of mechanism for monitoring them when they are in New Zealand."
The Christchurch District Court heard yesterday that Smallbon had entered his victim's bedsit about 6.25pm on December 30 and placed him in a stranglehold and held a knife against his throat.
He used a sock to gag his victim, tied his hands with a telephone cord, and stripped him.
Smallbon put his arm around the man's neck and squeezed until he was denied oxygen, warning him not to tell anyone or this would be what happened to him.
It was not until 11.45am on December 31 that he let the victim to his feet and untied him and allowed him to get dressed.
Smallbon later told police he had been trying to contain his urges, but was unable to after taking party pills.
Smallbon will reappear in court on January 31 for a hearing to determine jurisdiction, before he is sentenced.
