Sex offender loses deportation appeal

A Samoan man convicted of sexually violating a girl for several years from when she was 3 years old has lost his appeal against deportation.

Tupou Ogosi, a New Zealand resident, was issued with a deportation order last August because of his conviction in 2003.

The 41-year-old, who maintains his innocence, is serving a four-year concurrent jail term on charges of sexually violating and indecently assaulting the girl between 1997 and 2001.

Ogosi appealed against the order in October, but the Deportation Review Tribunal has rejected it.

Reaching its decision, the tribunal accepted that deporting Ogosi would be harsh on his wife and her two teenage children, who are New Zealand citizens.

But this was outweighed by the risk Ogosi posed to the public, particularly in light of his refusal to acknowledge the offending and subsequent failure to rehabilitate, the tribunal said in its report.

It described the charges as "very serious sexual offending against a small child", but could not consider the soundness of the convictions.

The tribunal took into account two Parole Board reports from 2004 and 2005 - in which Ogosi continued to deny the charges - to assess the likelihood of re-offending.

"To summarise, the Parole Board has determined that Mr Ogosi remains an 'undue risk to the safety of the community'," the tribunal report stated.

Ogosi's appeal was made on the grounds that deporting him would be unduly harsh on his family.

The appeal also stated Ogosi was well supported by wider family members and his church group, that his immediate family all reside in New Zealand, and deporting him would separate him from his family, who would be unlikely to return to Samoa.

Ogosi arrived in New Zealand in 1995 on a visitor's permit. He remained in the country illegally for about four years after it expired.

In 2001, under the direction of the Immigration Minister at the time, Lianne Dalziel, he was issued a work permit.

He was granted residency in 2002 after he married a New Zealand citizen.


TRIBUNAL LETS FEW APPELLANTS STAY

In the past six years the Deportation Review Tribunal allowed the appeals of about 14 per cent of the cases it heard.

In response to written questions, the Ministry of Justice has told the Herald that since January 1, 2000, the tribunal has quashed 20 deportation orders.

Stuart White, general manager of special jurisdictions, said in that time (until the end of 2005) the tribunal had considered 136 cases.

Its role is to hear appeals against deportation orders and notices revoking residence permits issued by the Immigration Minister.

Its decisions can be appealed against to the High Court as being erroneous in points of law. They may also be judicially reviewed on administrative law grounds.

Mr White said that since 2000, only three appeals against the tribunal's decisions had succeeded and they all related to cases where the tribunal had confirmed deportation orders or notices of revocation.

The tribunal could quash a deportation order if it was satisfied it would be unjust or unduly harsh to deport the appellant and that it would not be contrary to the public interest to allow him or her to remain in New Zealand.