The quiet moving of serial sex offender Stewart Murray Wilson to Wanganui Prison has been labelled "provocative and sly" by local councillors opposed to his relocation to the area.
Wilson, dubbed the Beast of Blenheim, was moved to Wanganui Prison on Saturday from Christchurch with no one notified until after the event.
Wanganui Mayor Annette Main said the Department of Corrections did not notify her until 4.30pm.
"They moved him in secretly hours earlier but we [the Wanganui District Council] weren't notified until after. I feel very let down."
The decision by the Parole Board and Corrections Department to place Wilson in a house just outside Wanganui Prison at Kaitoke has angered locals.
He is due for release on Wednesday with the strictest conditions ever imposed on a paroled prisoner, including GPS tracking and intensive supervision.
The council's legal challenge to the decision to house Wilson in Wanganui is being heard, with Wilson's request for a review of his parole conditions, today in the High Court at Wellington.
Ms Main and council legal officer Paul Drake will be at the hearing.
Corrections is continuing to follow the direction of the Parole Board in placing Wilson back in the community.
The department's general manager prison services, Brendan Anstiss, said at 4.30pm on Saturday that Wilson had been moved into Wanganui Prison.
Corrections would respond to any further direction on the matter following the High Court review, he said.
In a joint statement, Wanganui district councillors Michael Laws and Ray Stevens, who headed community opposition to the paroling of Wilson into the Wanganui community, said the move by Corrections was "provocative and sly".
"This is another act of bad faith against the Wanganui community. There is overwhelming community opposition, and even Wilson himself is opposing his release here but Corrections don't care and they have never cared.
"All their assurances are just worthless window-dressing.
"Wilson is wired to offend. That's the Parole Board's verdict, not ours. We have no intention of allowing his next victim to be a Wanganui resident."
A meeting of the full council is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon to review its opposition.
- APN