Child Sex Offenders Shunted from One Dumping Ground to Another

Child sex offenders in NZ are being shunted from one low socioeconomic dumping ground to another, living close to schools - without Principals and parents being warned. The Northern Advocate reports that three child sex offenders in Whangarei were relocated to Otahuhu. Whangarei residents and schools had not been informed of their presence, despite them living close to early childcare centres, schools, and a park. After public outrage the child sex offenders were relocated to Otahuhu, again without notifying schools or residents, and placed in close proximity to eight schools and four daycare centres.

A petition to prevent further dumping of sex offenders on the family oriented community of Otahuhu, and to have the current child sex offenders removed, has been started. Petition organiser Fiona Stevens said, "It is not the responsibility of the people of Otahuhu to worry about housing these offenders. We pay tax which pays Dept. Of Corrections salaries. It is their job to ensure that these people are not housed in locations that put children at risk. Clearly the Dept. of Corrections has a pattern of completely ignoring the safety needs of communities, which is totally unacceptable".

The petition is at https://www.change.org/p/16-child-sex-offenders-in-the-same-street-in-otahuhu-no-more

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