Repeat sexual offender Jason Robert Trembath, pictured during a previous court appearance, has been granted parole. Photo / NZME
Repeat sexual offender Jason Robert Trembath, pictured during a previous court appearance, has been granted parole. Photo / NZME
Repeat sexual offender Jason Trembath has won his bid for early prison release despite prior issues on parole including breaching conditions by going on Tinder and an arrest for an indecent act in a Rotorua car park.
The disgraced former senior representative cricket player, 35, was jailed for five years and four months in 2019 on 11 indecent assault charges and one of making and publishing an intimate visual recording.
He tried to deny it to the Parole Board, which found his claim about examining a burst cyst and being “pretty sure” his privates were not exposed “utterly implausible”.
A written decision obtained by the Rotorua Daily Post confirmed his prison sentence was due to finish on New Year’s Eve.
The board decided to allow him to be released from prison on April 3 subject to a raft of strict conditions.
Trembath’s lawyer Steve Murchy told the Parole Board his client would not be working the long hours he had when on parole previously and would have regular treatment by a psychologist.
In a January psychologist’s report, Trembath was assessed as being of “average risk” of reoffending and no further treatment appeared to be recommended while in custody. A comprehensive safety plan was said to be in place for him, the decision said.
A recommendation to the board from a source whose name was withheld was that Trembath should be released and supported into the community to “consistently implement his skills” and this should include a “regular review” of his safety plan.
Jason Trembath is set to be released on parole again. Photo / File
Other support had been arranged in the community and Trembath “now plans to be open and honest with his supporters”, which did not occur during his last parole.
The decision said the board questioned Trembath about why he committed his most recent offending and the safety plan.
“It appeared from what happened for Mr Trembath on parole that none of the obvious high-risk situations that led to his original offending had arisen for him.”
Trembath denied substance abuse and “sexual preoccupation” and stated he had not returned to gambling, the decision said.
Trembath said the key issue was he had put his safety plan to one side because he wanted to “move on” quickly. He was doing well for around 18 months before “drifting off” – “working too hard, reducing his family time and stopping going to the gym”.
Trembath told the board his offending arose as he was feeling “restricted” by his parole conditions and went out the night before with a friend who was a bad influence, and they had “unhealthy conversations about women”.
Jason Trembath during a 2018 court appearance after being accused of groping women. Photo / NZME
The board said it was concerning that this happened despite Trembath’s parole conditions, rehabilitation work and support available.
“While it is a finely balanced decision, we are satisfied that if Mr Trembath is released on parole for the remaining eight months of his sentence, he will not pose an undue risk to the safety of the community over that timeframe.”
It said that view assumed his strict compliance with parole conditions and honest relationships with his probation officer and supporters.
Details of where Trembath would be released and who he would live with were withheld in the decision.
Trembath’s parole conditions
Trembath’s conditions would include a 10pm to 6am curfew, allowing his use of any internet-capable device to be monitored, and a requirement to tell a probation officer about any intimate relationship.
He would also be banned from betting, gambling, contacting victims without permission and consuming or possessing alcohol and non-prescribed drugs – among other conditions.
His compliance with these conditions will be electronically monitored and Trembath was directed to attend a monitoring hearing in August.
Sandra Conchie is a senior journalist at the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post who has been a journalist for 24 years. She mainly covers police, court and other justice stories, as well as general news. She has been a Canon Media Awards regional/community reporter of the year.
