Serial sex offender Stewart Murray Wilson has been released back into the community.
Stewart Murray Wilson (centre) at the Whanganui District Court in 2014. Photo: RNZ / Robin Martin
After being recently granted parole, Wilson will now live in the grounds of Whanganui Prison, be monitored by GPS and will be supervised if he leaves the house.
The Department of Corrections said Whanganui was one of the few places in the country where, as far as it could tell, Wilson had no victims.
It said his living quarters in the prison grounds were away from close neighbours, and parole conditions were in place to make sure the public would be safe.
The mayor of Whanganui, Annette Main, said she was confident the parole conditions would be enough to protect people living in the area.
"They're no less safe because Mr Wilson is in the house in the grounds of the prison than they were yesterday. We know from our previous experience that, when Mr Wilson broke one of those conditions, he was swiftly recalled to prison."
Corrections said community leaders and Wilson's registered victims had been informed of his release.