Sex attacker lived near two schools

Howard Vivian Kitching is back in jail after assaulting a 95-year-old woman. Photo / Glenn Jeffrey

A blunder by the Corrections Department allowed one of New Zealand's worst child sex offenders to move into a house within a few hundred metres of two primary schools.

Howard Vivian Kitching, 62, has spent half his life in prison after a series of attacks on young girls. He was released on parole in October 2006.

But despite strict parole conditions, he was given approval by Corrections to move into Esplanade Rd in Auckland last May - on the same street as the private primary Ficino School and close to Mt Eden Normal Primary School.

Just five days later, Kitching was charged with indecently assaulting a 95-year-old woman in a nearby rest home.

He was immediately recalled to prison when charged with the attack and was this week found guilty in the Auckland District Court.

It is the second time his parole placement has raised concerns. In October 2006, the Parole Board placed him with another convicted paedophile near Three Kings School, despite objections from police and the Corrections Department.

Corrections has struggled to explain how Kitching was later granted approval to move to an address near two primary schools.

Astrid Kalders, Corrections' regional manager of community probation, said a member of Kitching's support group told his probation officer that Ficino School was a school of philosophy used as an adult training institute.

"When the probation officer became aware that children were present at the school, the address was no longer considered suitable and alternative accommodation was actively being sought at the time the alleged offence occurred."

Ms Kalders said the proximity of the retirement village was not considered when Kitching moved addresses, because all his previous offending was against children.

No disciplinary action was taken against the Corrections staff member for the mistake. The probation officer was warned not to rely on second-hand information, but to check it personally.

The Kitching case was separate from the 100 parole files reviewed by the Auditor-General in a scathing report released in February.

The report showed the Corrections Department failed to follow its own procedures in nearly every one of 100 cases of paroled offenders.

Corrections Minister Judith Collins has since refused to express confidence in chief executive Barry Matthews.

Tessa Stephens, the acting principal of Ficino School, questioned the judgment of anyone who allowed a child sex offender to live so close to a school.

She said all Ficino pupils were picked up by parents inside the school grounds, but she still had concerns that someone like Kitching lived nearby.

"We are very careful of the children, but certainly we'd prefer not to have notorious paedophiles on our doorstep."