Sex-case doctor gets home detention

A disgraced former doctor who admitted sex offences with young girls will be allowed out on home detention 14 months after he went to jail.

Matthew James Boyd, 29, is serving a three-year sentence for two charges of having sex with underage girls and four of indecent assault.

In a decision issued yesterday, the Parole Board has ruled that he can be released from Rimutaka Prison on home detention from September 12.

He was originally sentenced last July.

Boyd admitted meeting his victims - girls aged between 12 and 16 - through internet chat rooms. He was working as an intern and then locum doctor in Dunedin, Christchurch, Timaru and Wellington at the time of the offending, but none of the victims were his patients.

A psychological report prepared for the board said Boyd was considered unlikely to reoffend in the short-term.

To mitigate any remaining risk, he would have to attend a treatment programme and have psychological assessment and counselling.

Contact with children under 16 was prohibited, unless under the supervision of an adult approved by a probation officer. Access to the internet and cellphones was also banned, except under supervision.

Boyd had substantial family and social support, the board said. He had been on extremely stringent bail conditions, including a 24-hour curfew, for more than two years before he was sentenced and he had observed these conditions without any problems.

Boyd showed "appropriate remorse" for his offending.

In December, after he had spent three months on home detention, the board would assess whether he was eligible for parole.

The current application for parole was dismissed.

- NZPA