The Department of Corrections is promising a full review after one of New Zealand’s worst sex offenders was able to roam the streets of Christchurch, allegedly approaching schoolgirls.

53-year-old Leo Darin Goodwin appeared at the Christchurch District Court on Tuesday and was remanded in custody.

He allegedly approached schoolgirls for inappropriate favours in exchange for money, prompting police to send letters to 11 schools in Merivale and St Albans as part of their inquiries.

Goodwin was sentenced to preventive detention in 2006 in the High Court at Hamilton after being convicted of charges of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection, abduction for sexual intercourse and threatening to kill a 15-year-old girl.

On Wednesday night, Corrections Communities, Partnerships and Pathways Canterbury General Manager Chris O’Brien-Smith told chrislynchmedia.com, “Public safety is our top priority.

“As soon as we identified this individual was potentially in breach of his conditions, we breached him, sought an arrest without warrant, and then applied to the New Zealand Parole Board to recall him to prison.

“An interim recall has been granted, and this person is in prison. The New Zealand Parole Board will determine whether a final recall is granted, which would mean he remains in prison,” O’Brien-Smith said.

“This person was granted parole by the New Zealand Parole Board in March 2023 and directed to reside at an approved supported accommodation address at Salisbury Street Foundation. When an offender is granted parole, they are required to comply with any conditions imposed by the New Zealand Parole Board.

“This person has 28 standard and special conditions that he must be comply with for life, unless otherwise amended or discharged by the New Zealand Parole Board.

“These conditions include electronic monitoring, a requirement to meet with his Probation Officer on a weekly basis for ongoing monitoring, and exclusion zones. Until the recent alleged incident, he has complied with all of his conditions,” O’Brien-Smith said.

“The Salisbury Street Foundation property has been well established in the community for approximately 40 years.

“While community notification was not carried out for this particular individual, as has been standard practice for a significant number of years for offenders living at this specific property, we regularly engage with the local community, including schools, about our general management of offenders in the local area to ensure the community has good visibility of the work we do to manage people’s compliance and keep the community safe.

“Corrections fully acknowledges that the location of offenders can be a concern for communities, and we work hard to balance this concern with our obligation to safely manage people in the community. The reality is without these services people would be living on the streets or in cars, which would present an unacceptable risk to public safety.

“We are grateful for the support we have received from the community during the years we’ve worked with Salisbury Street Foundation to provide this service. We will continue to work with the Salisbury Street Foundation to look at what further engagement we can do with the community moving forward so people can have good visibility of the steps we take to keep communities safe, and how to ask us questions if required.

“The safety of communities is paramount in any decision we make. Our highly experienced Community Corrections staff work hard to ensure each person is safely reintegrated into the community, has suitable conditions to mitigate risk and has safe, suitable accommodation. As previously mentioned, we take our management of offenders in the community extremely seriously and will be carrying out a full review into this person’s management into the period leading up to the alleged breach,” O’Brien-Smith said.

“Supported accommodation services like Salisbury Street Foundation provide a structured environment for people released from prison to reintegrate from society with close monitoring by both the provider and Corrections.

“When assessing the suitability of an address, we look at a range of factors including the location of victims, other occupants at the property including any children or people subject to community sentences, location of support services, and the ability to ensure a clear GPS signal at all times if electronic monitoring is a condition of the person’s order. As part of this assessment we consult with other agencies, including police.”

Salisbury Street Foundation responds

Salisbury Street Foundation Chief Executive Dan Pallister-Coward told chrislynchmedia.com: “We want to reassure people that the safety of the wider community, our staff and residents is our priority.

“We don’t comment on individual residents, and as the matter is before the courts, we won’t be making public statements. For safety reasons, we also don’t discuss security measures. For a point of correction, we are a reintegration service not a rehabilitation service.”

Concerns raised by Christchurch worker

Meanwhile, a Christchurch worker has raised concerns about individuals from Salisbury House being placed at her workplace through a “trust arrangement” without staff being informed or consulted.

Chris Lynch Media has agreed not to identify the worker or her employer. She said: “These individuals have included serious long-term offenders, including convicted sexual offenders.”

“There’s been several times where known offenders have been left working unsupervised with women and young staff. On multiple occasions, high-risk ex-criminals have been placed in our work environment.

“Staff were not told of their backgrounds, nor were any safety protocols put in place. In one case, a convicted rapist was sent to site and worked alongside female staff members in isolation.

“Staff have felt unable to speak up about this due to fear of repercussions.

“My understanding is that the Department of Corrections and Parole only became aware months later that this offender, plus another guy, were working alongside young girls and boys.”

The worker said: “At that point, the individuals were removed. The fact that this was allowed to continue for so long represents a serious breach of safety and trust.

“In the past, staff have been told that hidden cameras exist around the property ‘for our safety’. This in itself is a breach of privacy, and does not address the real safety issues, such as staff having to walk to their cars alone at the end of the day without protection or supervision.

“Staff, including women and under-18s, have been left alone with high-risk men without any procedures in place to ensure their safety, either during work hours or when leaving the site.”

Canterbury Metro Area Commander Superintendent Lane Todd told chrislynchmedia.com “when reports of a concerning nature are made, it’s important for police to make enquiries ahead of any public appeals.

“This work includes speaking with victims, establishing if there is a wider pattern of behaviour, and making all efforts to identify the suspect; depending on the circumstances, going public can hinder the investigation, including the efforts to locate people of interest.”

Todd said “police may approach schools or other organisations in order to open further lines of enquiry, but this, and making appeals to the wider public, is on a case-by-case basis.”

“The most important thing is for parents to have conversations with their children and reinforce that if they feel concerned for themselves or someone else’s safety to call 111 immediately. This includes situations where a person is acting threateningly or making inappropriate sexual remarks.”

An ongoing practice at police, is sharing any lessons that are learned during the course of duties. In this case, no review is planned.” Todd said.