One of Dilworth School's most prolific child sex offenders owns a home less than 250m from a school and kindergarten, and will be allowed to move back six months after his release from prison.
By Finn Blackwell of RNZ.
Dilworth's former assistant principal, scoutmaster and history teacher Ian Robert Wilson has been in prison for the past five years for sexual offending against boys between the ages of 12 and 16 years old.
The Parole Board declined his seventh attempt at an early release after he waived his rights to appear before it.
Instead, special conditions have been set for his September 22 release, including that Wilson - now in his 70s - not live at the property he owns for six-months after he is let out of prison.
Wilson was the first sex offender from the infamous school scandal to be sentenced for his crimes.
RNZ understands he owns a home just blocks away from a kindergarten and a school.
Neil Harding is a survivor of Wilson's offending and has waived his automatic right to name suppression in order to speak out.
He addressed the parole board in July for the seventh time, urging them not to release Wilson early.
Harding said Wilson should spend every day of his remaining sentence in prison.
"The children of New Zealand should not be put at risk any earlier than they already are by his impending release," he said.
"To me this man is a monster, who took away my innocence. He is a manipulator, a snake and given the opportunity would take another boy's innocence… in a heartbeat."
Speaking to RNZ, Harding said he genuinely feared for children in the community.
He believes "little boys are still vulnerable" around Wilson.
"Being so close to a school, a kindergarten - I have a real genuine fear [for] their safety."
Harding was urging parents to teach their children about "stranger danger".
"This man is a master manipulator, grooms, and there's a number of Dilworth victims that know exactly what this man can do."
"We just don't want anything that happened to us to happen to another little boy in his neighbourhood," Harding said.
Special release conditions mean Wilson will be unable to return to his property for six months after his release.
Parole Board chair and retired High Court Justice Jan-Marie Doogue told RNZ the board may choose to impose additional special conditions for up to six months, to help reduce the risk of reoffending, support rehabilitation, and protect the community.
It was up to the Department of Corrections, however, to approve Wilson's address.
"This person is not being released to this address," Corrections director of communities, partnerships and pathways Simon Chaplin said.
"They will be managed at a well-established existing supported accommodation property based elsewhere on their release."
Chaplin said Wilson would be closely managed by experienced Corrections staff for the duration of his release conditions, being six months.
"If they do not comply with the conditions set out by the New Zealand Parole Board, we will take action," Chaplin said.
But Corrections noted after the six-month period following Wilson's release, it was unable to legally direct where he could and could not live.
It said no decisions had been made about notifying the nearby school or kindergarten.
Wilson was also ordered not to communicate with or have contact with anyone under the age of 16 unless approved by a probation officer as part of his special release conditions.
History of child abuse
Wilson sexually abused boys in his care over decades from 1971 to 1996 while at Dilworth.
He was first convicted in 1997 on a charge relating to the abuse, and ordered to pay a fine. He was also given name suppression.
A previous Parole Board decision said Wilson represented himself to the court as "a first offender without any other offending," and did not disclose his significant other cases of abuse at the time.
But Wilson had sexually abused other boys.
He was convicted again in 2021 on seven charges relating to offending between 1975 and 1992, and sentenced to three years and seven months behind bars.
When the Parole Board asked him if there were more victims who were yet to come forward, Wilson said he was not aware of any.
But in 2023, further victims came forward and Wilson was convicted on 19 further charges relating to abuse between 1971 and 1992.
There were ten charges of offending against boys under 12, six charges of offending against boys aged 12 to 16, and three charges against a boy over 16. Wilson had a year and 11 months added to his sentence.
He had abused at least 10 different victims, several of them repeatedly over a number of years.
The Dilworth Trust Board has earlier apologised and acknowledged decades of sexual and physical abuse at the school.
Wilson was arrested in 2020 as part of Operation Beverly - the police investigation into historic sexual offending at Dilworth.
Police have made 14 arrests as part of the operation. Seven people have been convicted. Three others died before their cases could be heard in court.
Wilson had been denied parole at his previous six board hearings.
Harding had also attended each hearing. He told RNZ that he is asked why he attended the hearings.
"It's because I know how much of a danger he is to little boys in the community, and I'm really genuinely concerned about what this man can still do."
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