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Home / New Zealand

The hunt for a predator: Six questions about David Livingstone

John Weekes
By John Weekes
Senior Business Reporter·NZME.·
6 Aug, 2015 10:49 PM3 mins to read

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Child sex offender David Livingstone is still on the run. Photo / Supplied via police

Child sex offender David Livingstone is still on the run. Photo / Supplied via police

Child sex offender David Livingstone is still on the run after removing his electronic monitoring bracelet and leaving his Upper Hutt home yesterday.

He was released from jail last year for the abduction and rape of a 10-year-old girl in Whangarei in 2006.

There is still no sign of Livingstone this morning, leaving the local community in fear and many questioning how he was able to evade police when he was being monitored.

1) How did he get his electronic monitoring bracelet off?

Livingstone cut off his bracelet, activating the tamper alarm between 1.30am and 2am on Thursday.

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Police did not break into his home until several hours later, at about 9am, where they found the ankle bracelet.

2) Who was supposed to be monitoring him?

Department of Corrections contractor First Security was monitoring Livingstone, and told police the tamper alarm on his monitoring bracelet was activated.

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3) How long did it take to alert the public?

At 4.16pm, more than 14 hours after the alert was activated, police issued a media release. This followed visits from a security officer at 3am and 6.30am, a request from Corrections for police to conduct a welfare check, and two visits from police that morning.

4) Who is Daniel Livingstone?

His adoptive mother raised him because his biological mother was too drug-addicted to care for him. The High Court in Whangarei heard he left school at 14, was 18 when he abducted and raped a young girl, and was illiterate. He spent time in CYFs supervision and in boys' homes because of offending from an early age.

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5) Why was he not on preventive detention?

In 2006 the Crown decided not to seek a sentence of preventive detention after psychiatric reports on Livingstone were obtained from the Mason Clinic in Auckland. Livingstone was found to have alcohol and cannabis dependence, "conduct disorder of adolescent type" and very low self image. A psychiatrist said Livingstone did not have paedophilia disorder and was not at an increased risk of recidivism compared with other sex offenders.

6) What other convictions does Livingstone have?

At his sentencing for rape and abduction in 2006, the court heard Livingstone had multiple convictions for theft, burglary or traffic related offences. He also had a conviction for "male assaults female" for which he was sentenced to two months' jail and one of cruelly ill-treating an animal when he was a youth, for which he was given three months supervision.

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