A dangerous child sex criminal due to be released from jail will stay locked up for at least six months more because authorities fear he will commit another crime if freed.
Former mental patient Stephen Staynor has had his mandatory release blocked by the Parole Board.
Staynor, formerly known asBarry Allan Ryder, was to be freed from Rolleston Prison last month after serving two-thirds of a nine-year sentence for kidnapping an 11-year-old Wanganui boy in September 1994 and assaulting him with intent to rape.
News of Staynor's upcoming release prompted a public outcry from his victim's family.
The Corrections Department objected to Staynor's release under section 105 of the Criminal Justice Act.
Under section 105, an inmate can be made to serve the full term of a sentence on the grounds that he or she is likely to commit a specified crime if freed, but these cases must be reviewed every six months.
Staynor's release from Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital in April 1993 prompted psychiatric nurse Neil Pugmire to warn that he was still dangerous.
