Recidivist child sex abuser released after serving full sentence

Graeme Purvis had more than 3000 objectionable images on his computer when caught, He'll be released in March, despite having declined rehabilitation. Photo / Thinkstock

A recidivist child abuser who has declined rehabilitation will be released this week, a New Zealand Parole Board decision has confirmed.

Graeme Murray Purvis, 47, of Dunedin, was jailed for three years in 2009 for possessing, making and distributing images of child sexual abuse and rape, and attempting to sexually groom a vulnerable teenage girl.

Purvis, who has served three and a half years at an undisclosed prison, has a statutory release date of Saturday, March 17. He was denied parole by the Parole Board and required to serve his full sentence.

He had been assessed as being a medium/high risk under the automated sexual recidivism scale, and has turned down rehabilitation to address his offending.

Last month, Purvis appeared before the Parole Board, which imposed five release conditions that will last for six months past his statutory release date.

Those conditions include Purvis being prevented from using a computer or electronic equipment capable of accessing the internet, to reside at an approved address, no contact with victim(s), and no contact with those under the age of 16.

Originally, seven special release conditions were proposed by the Parole Board, with Purvis opposing two of them, including a psychological assessment and being allowed to stay away overnight.

Those two conditions were not opposed by the Parole Board.

Purvis will be released this week after his third stint in jail for child pornography or sexual abuse related offences since 2002.

On the first two occasions, he breached release conditions by contacting a young person when prohibited and accessing the internet.

Police seized Purvis' computer and memory stick in September 2008, and found more than 3000 pictures, 212 videos and 92 written texts or stories, most of them objectionable.

Images and personal details of girls from the Dunedin area, obtained from social networking sites, were also discovered.

Some still pictures were of young children, with videos showing a range of child abuse, including the rape of children, and bestiality.

Overseas authorities alerted the Department of Internal Affairs after Purvis supplied material to a covert identity.

He was also sentenced for the attempted sexual grooming of a 15-year-old girl.