Rehab placement of sex offenders near Whangarei kids a mistake

Four child sex offenders were placed in a Whangarei house overlooking a children's playground.

The Department of Corrections is moving four convicted child sex offenders from a house near three child care centres.

It is a good response to a bad situation and in moving the offenders, hopefully the Department of Corrections examines why on Earth it thought it was appropriate to put the men in a bungalow that has a front porch overlooking a children's playground, next to a thoroughfare for school children.

Not to mention the three childcare centres within a 300m radius - the closest being about 100m away.

In answering questions from the Northern Advocate, Corrections indicated that the bungalow was in a commercial area.

Whether that is a mitigating factor in the decision is debatable, because Dent St - aka Fire Brigade Hill - is also a residential area.

Norfolk St, a stone's throw away, was predominantly residential until a few decades ago when people realised that its proximity to town allowed businesses to operate from its many character bungalows and cottages.

It is a desirable location - commercially and residentially.

Corrections say consultation was carried out - it would be interesting to know who by and what was said. Because there are three surprised childcare facilities in the vicinity.

Would you house a recovering alcoholic 100m from a bar overlooking a brewery? No.

There are no parallels, by the way, between a person who chooses to drink themselves to a life-threatening point of damage and danger, and a child sex offender.

None. Also, one is primarily hurting themselves, the other hurting a child for narcissistic means that disgust right-thinking people.

There are people within Corrections who were satisfied it was okay to place these offenders in Northland for rehabilitation.

But that place is not a cute bungalow on the top of Fire Brigade Hill with three childcare centres in a 300m radius - it is somewhere with little or zero proximity to children.

Perhaps the objectivity that allowed the decision makers to consider "we can do this, but should we?" went missing.

Thank God that's all that vanished.