Editorial: Release of Nia's mum sends wrong message

230810sp1 Lisa Kuka giving evidence during the coroner's inquest into the death of Nia Glassie. 23 August 2010 Daily Post photograph by Stephen Parker SUN 29May11 - SHOCKING: Lisa Kuka did not pro

The crime that appalled a nation has been in the spotlight again this week.

The news on Thursday that Nia Glassie's mother Lisa Kuka would be released early from prison came just days after it was revealed Nia's abuser Oriwa Kemp had her new-born baby taken by Child, Youth and Family.

Nia Glassie was a Rotorua 3-year-old who died in August 2007 from head injuries after being repeatedly kicked, following shocking ongoing abuse.

Kuka's partner at the time Wiremu Curtis and his brother Michael were sentenced to life imprisonment for the little girl's murder.

Kuka was convicted of manslaughter for failing to protect and get medical help for Nia.

Others including Kemp were convicted of abusing the toddler.

Nia would have turned 10 this year and be in her final year of primary school.

Had she been surrounded by those who would love and protect her we would today not associate her name with tragedy.

But instead she was thrust into an abusive environment and those who should have kept her safe failed terribly.

One of those, Kuka, faces release from prison just five years into her nine-year sentence.
She was denied parole after two-and-a-half years in 2011, and again a year ago - the
Parole Board saying she still posed an undue risk to the safety of the community.

This time a psychological report assessed her as being at a low risk of reoffending and the board said she had made "significant progress" over the latter half of her sentence.

Forgive my mathematics, but the latter half of her nine-year sentence has only just begun.

In a nation struggling with the scourge of child abuse, why are offenders' sentences seemingly not worth the paper they're written on?

I agree rehabilitation should be a major part of incarceration, but shouldn't punishment also be a key consideration?

Otherwise, what message does that send?