The mother and child cannot be named for legal reasons.
According to Court of Appeal documents, Moran called 111 at 1.20 am on May 17, 2011, and asked for an ambulance to be sent to his address.
Ambulance officers found the toddler lying on the floor of his bedroom, clearly suffering "significant injuries".
It was later established that he had suffered blunt force trauma to his head, and that this had caused injuries to his brain including the tearing of a major blood vessel, which caused significant subdural bleeding.
When the boy reached Palmerston North Hospital he was "deeply unconscious and breathing only three or four times per minute, the court document revealed.
He was transferred to Auckland's Starship Hospital where the neurosurgical team did emergency surgery to relieve pressure on his brain.
The child spent several weeks in Starship before being transferred to
another unit for rehabilitation.
"Although [he] has recovered to a limited extent, he will continue to suffer significant and lifelong effects as a result of the injury to his brain," the court document stated.
Moran denied the offending - saying the little boy suffered his head injuries in a fall - but was found guilty after a High Court trial of one count of causing grievous bodily harm to the boy with reckless disregard for his safety.
He was jailed for three years and six months.
HIs appeal against his conviction was rejected in March 2015.
He was denied parole in November the same year - and every time he appeared before he board after that.
In October last year the board rejected his bid, despite his family saying they believed he was innocent and were "committed to providing him with support on release, both in terms of accommodation and personal support".
"We think he is a risk to young children," board panel convener Bryan McMurray said at the time.
"If Mr Moran was to have supervision of or be left alone with a young child, we are not satisfied that he would not re-offend in a similar way."
His most recent hearing was on September 5.
The Parole Board again refused him an early release from prison, but said Moran's sentence ends on November 8 and he must, by law, be released.
The Herald can reveal that the board has set a number of conditions around Moran's release as they are still not satisfied with his level of risk.
"The board noted Mr Moran's continuing denial of the offending and the consequent absence of any rehabilitative work," said panel convener Alan Ritchie.
"The board noted what it described as a surly mood on Mr Moran's part and no adequate release proposal."
He said a psychological report listed Moran's risk of reoffending as low and the offender had now prepared a safety plan.
"However, we have not been able to satisfy ourselves that risk is other than undue and we are unable to direct release on parole," Ritchie said.
He said given the proximity of Moran's sentence expiry date the board would set final release conditions.
The conditions will be in place for six months from Moran's release date.
If he breaches any, he could be recalled to prison.
The conditions are:
• if directed, to attend and complete an appropriate programme to the satisfaction of a probation officer and programme provider. The details of the appropriate programme to be determined by a probation officer.
• to reside at an address approved by a probation officer and not to move from that address without the written approval of a probation officer.
• to notify his probation officer before starting, terminating or changing his position or place of employment.
• not to have contact or otherwise associate with any victim of his offending, directly or indirectly, without written consent of a probation officer.
• not to contact or associate with, directly or indirectly, any person under the age of 16 except where you are in the presence of a person over the age of 20 who has been approved by a probation officer, or where he has a probation officer's written approval.
