In 2018, Timothy John Grass was jailed for nine years for repeatedly raping a young girl.
He was released from prison last year, still denying any offending, untreated and showing clear ‘resentment’ towards his victim.
The Parole Board were so concerned about his risk to the community it imposed a raft of conditions on Grass for the first six months of his freedom.
Those conditions will expire next month, prompting his victim and her mother to speak out.
Senior journalist Anna Leask reports.
Auckland man Timothy John Grass is a seasoned offender.
Alongside the “premeditated” and frequent sex abuse of the girl when she was 12, he has a raft of other serious convictions to his name.
Male assaults female.
Assault with a weapon.
Possession of firearms.
Breaching protection orders – including one in place to protect the young abuse victim’s mother.
And more.
“He shows no remorse for his crime, and I want others to know his name so they don’t get hurt,” the victim’s mother told the Herald.
Grass denied raping the child but was found guilty on a representative charge by a jury after a trial in the Manukau District Court.
A representative charge means police believe a person has committed multiple offences of the same type in similar circumstances.
Grass unsuccessfully appealed his conviction.
He became eligible for parole in 2024.
At a hearing in November 2024, the Parole Board heard Grass continued to deny any offending and “plan to appeal to the Supreme Court”.
At a hearing in March last year, the rapist’s lawyer confirmed a further appeal was not being pursued – but Grass maintained his innocence.
He described his proposed post-release safety plan as something to keep him “safe from allegations in the future”.
The board said Grass “remains untreated” and given his “very serious” offending, he posed too much of a risk to the community to be released.
In July last year, Grass appeared before the board again, ahead of his statutory release date in September.
He was told to remain in prison until he had completed his full sentence, and the board put a number of conditions in place for his first six months back in the community.
Parole Board panel convenor Ann-Marie Beveridge noted that Grass’ offending happened “over an extended period” and was “premeditated offending committed frequently, sometimes multiple times a week”.
“The harm caused is immeasurable and ongoing both to the child victim but also to her mum,” she said.
“He has 17 prior convictions including for assault with a weapon, male assaults female, possessing firearms, two breaches of a protection order including against the victim’s mother.
“Mr Grass continues to deny the offending. We made it clear that we base our assessment on the convictions and associated facts, which are proven and will not enter into any debate over his innocence.”
“We are concerned about his risk and, in particular, the safety of the victim and her family, which includes psychological and emotional safety.”
Beveridge said Grass was still a risk to the community and because of that, she ordered he attend monitoring in January 2026 – well after the formal end of his sentence.
“We do so because he continues to deny the offending, his victim stance, the demonstrable resentment towards his victim and his lack of understanding of the victim and her family’s perspectives,” she explained.
“We are concerned about his risk and, in particular, the safety of the victim and her family, which includes psychological and emotional safety.
“His support people are not likely to be protective as they believe his protestations of innocence.”
The board imposed a raft of release conditions, including electronic monitoring and a ban from entering “any area of Auckland” and part of Waikato.
He was banned from associating with anyone under 16 and having any contact with his victim or her family.
He was also ordered to disclose details of the start and finish of any intimate relationships to his Probation Officer.
The conditions expire on March 20, and the victim and her mother are terrified that Grass may try to contact them or that they may run into him.
“I want people to know that Timothy presented himself to the public eye as someone trustworthy but his actions have caused real harm,” the victim told the Herald.
“I wouldn’t want anyone else to experience what I had to. I can only hope that he doesn’t offend again.
“The offending had a huge impact on my life, for years I experienced anxiety, fear and a loss of trust.
“It affected how I viewed myself and everyone around me to the point I even lost friends – I had to put in a lot of effort to heal and learn who I was after the abuse.
“I am now completely different to the person I was during the abuse.”
The victim said the parole process had been “emotionally exhausting” and “felt like a constant battle”.
“Every time he was up for release, it was like a reminder he was moments away from walking free – while my trauma from the offending still continues to be a part of me,” she explained.
The victim’s mother said the court and parole process had been harrowing, and she had often felt like she and her daughter did not have a voice.
She contacted the Herald to stand up for her family and to let other victims know they were not alone.
“I feel like nobody has wanted to listen to me – that my voice hasn’t had any power and my words mean nothing," she said.
“I feel like we have been the ones being punished, and now I am trying my best to make a change for other people.
“It’s taken years to get this to this point – and I just want it done so I can let the weight of this go.
“It’s the most painful thing I’ve ever lived. I just want my life back and for my children to be validated for our experience … having the truth out there will hopefully help others.”
While the victim and her family are protected by automatic and permanent name suppression, the Manukau District Court confirmed there are no orders in place preventing the publication of Grass’ identity and offending.
The victim’s mother hoped that speaking out would give her and her daughter “closure of a chapter we didn’t choose to live”.
“This process made me reach rock bottom, so there’s no way but up now … standing up to someone like Grass hasn’t been easy. I want others to find their strength,” she said.
“This situation was absolutely heartbreaking to endure … I never thought this would be a chapter of my life, but sadly, it is.”
The victim said since Grass was released, she has felt she needed “to be more alert and cautious in everything she does”.
She wants to prevent people from experiencing that in future.
And, she wants her story to help others.
“I just want to encourage people who are going through abuse … [and share] the importance of speaking up and taking their voice back,” she said.
Anna Leask is a senior journalist who covers national crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2008 and has worked as a journalist for 20 years with a particular focus on family and gender-based violence, child abuse, sexual violence, homicides, mental health and youth crime. She writes, hosts and produces the award-winning podcast A Moment In Crime, released monthly on nzherald.co.nz