Ag 28 may, 2014

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Wednesday, May 28, 2014

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Local vigilantes target sex offender BY MICHELLE NELSON MICHELLE.N@THEGUARDIAN.CO.NZ

A mailbox drop containing details of a convicted sex offender living in Ashburton has sparked a warning against vigilante action. The Guardian is not aware of the scope of the mailbox drop, but received a copy of the flyer, warning of the “Beast of Ashburton”, from a Victoria Street resident yesterday. The man’s name and details of his offending are publically available on the Sensible Sentencing Trust website, which states he is living in Ashburton

under supervision. But the flyer takes it a step further, listing an address and vehicle details. Safer Ashburton general manager Kevin Clifford said there was no way of verifying whether that information was correct and warned against taking retributive action. “Although Safer Ashburton doesn’t have a formal position on this matter, we would hope nobody would see fit to take any sort of action themselves,” he said. “It’s a very difficult situation and one people have very

strong opinions about, but within the bounds of the law there is no scope for any form of retribution. “If anyone has been personally affected (by offending of this nature), it can be very difficult for them. “It’s unfortunate but the choices that you make stay with you and even though you might say you’ve ‘done your time’, if you’ve made choices that have hurt people, a lot of them don’t forget that.” Mr Clifford said anyone who suspected anything untoward should pass that information on

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to the police. Ashburton police senior sergeant Scott Banfield said he was aware of the matter and hoped commonsense would prevail. “Probation services are working very closely with that person, we will let that organisation run their business,” he said. At this point there was no information to suggest anyone was at risk of harm, but police would follow up any complaints, he said. The Guardian has chosen not to identify the offender. Ph 03 307 7900 to subscribe!

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