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Former police officer Brad Shipton has been released from Wanganui prison after serving three years of an 8-1/2 year sentence for his part in the 1989 rape of a woman in Mt Maunganui.
Shipton, who maintained his innocence, was denied parole in May but following a hearing in October in which two psychological assessments deemed him a low risk of further offending, the Parole Board changed its stance.
His victim, who has name suppression, told Radio New Zealand Shipton should not have been released.
"He has refused to get any kind of help because he won't admit the offence, so we have got an untreated rapist about to be set free into your community."
The woman's lawyer had protested, saying Shipton should have been made to serve at least two-thirds of his sentence according to pre-2005 laws, but the board said the trial had taken place after the law change.
Although Shipton, a former Tauranga city councillor, was given the longest sentence of the three offenders, he was not the last to be released.
Co-accused Peter McNamara was released in January after serving a third of his seven-year sentence while former police officer Bob Schollum remained in prison.
Shipton's parole conditions extend until the end of his sentence in 2014. He was required to stay at a specified address, take counselling.
He cannot have any contact with McNamara, Schollum or the victim.
Shipton and former police officer Clint Rickards and Schollum were cleared in 2006 of raping Rotorua woman Louise Nicholas in the 1980s.
- NZPA
