A man who raped and brutally assaulted a five-year-old girl in 2011 will be released on parole.
Raurangi Mark Marino, who was 16 at the time, was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2012 for burglary as well as the rape and aggravated wounding of a young girl at a Turangi campground.
He first became eligible for parole in April 2015 and was granted parole with special conditions in April this year.
The Parole Board acknowleged in their report that the attack "was a particularly horrendous rape of a young child involving signifcant violence".
In a March 2018 report, Marino's risk of "general and violent offending" was assessed as high while his risk of sexual offending was moderate to high.
He was last seen by the board in October last year, at which stage he had completed two rehabilitation programmes for sexual offending and drug use.
But the board was not satisfied that Marino's release plan, which didn't contain an accommodation address or when it would be available, was sufficient to manage his risk to the community and declined parole. He also needed to undertake guided releases into the community.
In April, the board said that while Marino hadn't been able to undertake guided releases due to his security classification, he had strengthened his release plan.
"We are therefore satisfied that he is no longer an undue risk but only if he completes in the next three months before his release the following undertakings," the report said.
Those undertakings are a hui with several parties, including his family and the Department of Corrections, to clarify his future plans and a number of guided releases.
"Marino was imprisoned at age 16; he is now 23. He will simply not be familiar with the community. He needs to have confidence that he can do the ordinary things in life, go to the bank, purchase food, and become familiar with the [withheld] residence he is to go to in."
He will be released sometime in July with a list of 16 special conditions, including a monitoring hearing in February and not to consume alcohol or drugs.
He is also not to loiter near any place where children under-16 may be congregating, such as schools, parks or libraries.
As part of his parole Marino will also need to attend and participate in monthly sexual offenders relapse prevention group meetings.
Marino had no previous criminal convictions prior to his offending in 2011. It is understood that the now 23-year-old had a violent upbringing with gang ties on both sides of the family.
As a result, Marino is not to communicate or associate with any individual known to be involved with gangs.
Newshub.
