A convicted paedophile publicly identified by police after he was housed in the same street as a school and a kindergarten in Wellington has been moved.
Barry Grant Brown, aged 35, was placed in a council flat in Strathmore after being freed from prison this year.
Police were concerned at his proximity
to children, and last month delivered leaflets to residents, with a warning and picture of the convicted child sex offender.
Senior Sergeant Pete Cowan said yesterday that Brown was moved two weeks ago, after much work by the Community Probation Service to find a more suitable location.
The difficulty was that most low-cost accommodation was placed around schools, Senior Sergeant Cowan said.
"I have been guaranteed that the new location is not near any schools or any facilities with young children," he said. "It's a good result. It shows the power of the community."
A Corrections Department spokeswoman confirmed that Brown was in new accommodation, but would not say where. "He has been moved to the safest place we could find for him and the community," she said.
Brown was freed from Rimutaka prison this year after serving 3 1/2 years for sex crimes against children.
He was jailed in 1998 for indecently assaulting a five-year-old boy, and on a kidnapping charge after abducting a five-year-old girl.
Police said he also had convictions for indecent assaults against children in 1982, 1985 and 1990.
- NZPA
