Why do we release a paedophile with a high risk of reoffending?

Stuff reports:

A paedophile was moved out of jail into a Wellington home with 62 children in the immediate neighbourhood, a school down the road, and one of his victims nearby.

The situation has left the Parole Board “perplexed” about why Probation – part of the Department of Corrections – did not seek nor provide crucial advice until weeks after Aaron Paul Laurence was released from prison to a house in the Wellington suburb of Newtown.

Laurence, who has now changed his name to Aaron Paul Castle and was previously known around Wellington as Lorry Haka, was recently moved to a new, undisclosed, address in an industrial area, largely due to being near so many children near the Newtown house.

His original Parole Board decision, which led to his September 1 release, said he was deemed at “high risk” of reoffending. He was sentenced in 2013 for 65 offences, including 20 charges of performing an indecent act on a boy under 12.

In one case he videoed himself sexually violating young boys, one aged between 5 and 8, while they slept.

He was sentenced in 2013 to 12 years and nine months jail. The Parole Board let him out after seven years and six months. That is only 58% through his sentence. Bow you could understand that if he was deemed at a very low risk of reoffending. But the advice was he was on the high end of reoffending risk.

But it will be even worse soon. Almost certainly his original offending would have got him a first strike. So if he does reoffend, then he would lose parole eligibility. But Labour is going to change the law so he would remain eligible for parole, so he could get early release again – creating more victims.