Retrospectively legislating is always going to be a dangerous option, and will surely create a host of problems in other cases from a similar time period.
It is also a reality that, such is the serial nature of this man's behaviour, he has victims in a host of cities.
Few cities have prisons with the resources capable to implement the type of security system required for his release, and even fewer are absent of victims. Harsh luck for us that we are the city that fulfils those two criteria.
Indeed, as Cameron Slater, of the Whale Oil blog fame, suggested, if the vocal opponents we are hearing from on the council are so vehemently opposed to it, Corrections should call their bluff. Slater suggests telling Laws and Co: "Okay, you don't want the Beast and you hate Corrections. That's fine. We'll move him elsewhere. And by the way, we'll also close Whanganui prison and move the 300 jobs that go with it to another town."
Additionally, the hypocrisy of sending another notorious sex offender, Lloyd McIntosh, to Christchurch for supervision due to victims of his residing in Wanganui is notable to say the least; damning to be truthful.
The lack of maturity does not stop there, either. When questioned on the issue by a student at my school over Facebook recently, Councillor Ray Stevens resorted to insulting the student's age and interests: "Play your air cadet games with the other boys and leave the real work to the adults."
Aside from insulting this student personally, as well as a passion of his, the vitriol spouted in these instances is counterproductive to not only fostering opinionated youth and engaging them in community issues, but also actually resolving the issue at hand.
So what is the reaction of the council as a whole? To turn to the courts. This seems a diplomatic approach to the problem, but I can't see the efficacy of it. The judicial review the council is seeking surely will not rule in favour of preventing the parole of Wilson into the Wanganui community; if it does, where will he be relocated then? So few communities are suitable to release him into, given the aforementioned requirements. But additionally, what is to stop any other community that was found to be suitable from seeking a judicial review on the same grounds?
In fact, Mayor Annette Main made some excellent points explaining why it was necessary to accept the decision of Corrections to send the Beast to Wanganui. Main identified that "his location if he leaves the house will be monitored by GPS and if he does leave he must be accompanied at all times by two designated people".
The conditions, as she put it, were "as close to being in prison as is legally possible".
These are valid points and remain valid despite the council releasing a statement of its opposition to the Beast's relocation.
It now appears that Wilson is scared of the backlash he will face if he is relocated to Wanganui. Given that his own alternative was originally driving around New Zealand in a camper van, I can't say I have too much sympathy for him. And, here's a novel solution for him if the reaction is too much to bear: stay inside your house on the grounds of the prison, where no one will bother you, and vice versa.
The instinctive reaction is understandably to oppose such an horrific human entering the Wanganui region, but the reality is that this is the best of a pretty bad bunch of options, perhaps not for Wanganui, but definitely for New Zealand.
It is a decision we must accept, but it is more than legitimate to maintain a view, as Mayor Main expressed early on, that "he will never be part of our community".
James Penn is deputy head boy at Wanganui High School and was recently named captain of the New Zealand secondary schools debating team.
