'Grope' claims against Kurariki investigated

Claims made against Bailey Junior Kurariki by two <i>Herald on Sunday</i> journalists are being investigated. Photo / Herald on Sunday

The Corrections Department and police say they are looking into claims the country's youngest convicted killer, Bailey Junior Kurariki, exposed himself to two female journalists and groped them.

The pair, a reporter and photographer from the Herald on Sunday, had gone to Kurariki's Auckland home on Thursday last week to interview him shortly after he was released from a one-month prison sentence for wilfully damaging a television camera.

Community Probation Services general manager Katrina Casey said Kurariki was subject to a release on conditions order following a short term of imprisonment, but was not eligible for recall back to prison.

"Corrections is in the process of taking breach action against him for non-compliance with one of the conditions of his release order," she said.

She would not comment further.

One of the conditions of his earlier release was that he not speak to the news media.

Police have received a formal complaint about Thursday's incident and said they were investigating the complaint and charges were likely. They also would not comment further.

The two women said Kurariki behaved in an erratic and distressing manner during the interview.

They said he exposed himself to them, masturbated in front of them and groped them before they could escape the house.

The Herald on Sunday defended sending two women to interview Kurariki, saying he had no record of this type of offending. However, it would be reviewing its processes to ensure staff were not endangered.

Lobby group Rethinking Crime and Punishment has questioned the paper's judgement.

Its director Kim Workman said the decision to send two female reporters without male escorts was "beyond comprehension" as Kurariki dislikes the media, and in particular hated the Herald, he said.

Kurariki was 12 when he was one of six people involved in the killing of pizza delivery man Michael Choy in 2001.

He was jailed for seven years for Mr Choy's manslaughter and released in May 2008, four months before his sentence ended.

However, he has not been able to stay out of trouble. In May last year he was sentenced to 12 months' supervision after admitting assaulting his girlfriend and breaching parole before the most recent jail term for the television camera incident.

- NZPA