'Round the clock' minder for sex offender

A serious sex offender who was hounded out of Whakatane and moved to Wellington has been given a round-the-clock minder for his own protection, his lawyer says.

However, the Corrections Department says the minder was a "life-skills tutor" who was to be with Paul Andrew Hislop, 42, "at all times" to help his reintegration into the community, The Dominion Post newspaper reported.

In the High Court at Wellington on Monday, Justice Forrie Miller made an extended supervision order against Hislop, so he will be subject to parole-like oversight for 10 years.

To make the extended supervision order, a court has to be satisfied that an offender poses a real and ongoing risk of committing sexual offences against children or young people.

Hislop was ordered not to have contact with anyone under 16 without a probation officer's consent, and must live and work where approved.

Hislop's lawyer Michael Bott said that his client agreed to the order being made.

He was freed last month after serving all of a five-year jail term for a daylight attack on a 14-year-old girl in a Hamilton park.

He pleaded guilty to sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection and indecently assaulting the girl.

Mr Bott told the court Hislop had to be smuggled out of Whakatane, where he went on his release from prison, after being threatened.

He said that he now been given a minder for his protection. But a corrections spokesman said Hislop never needed security but was being accompanied by a lifetime skills tutor at all times until he had established appropriate accommodation and a support network.

- NZPA