Owen  Anderson

Background

Background
From Dominion Post story 13th November 2004
A sex offender has been jailed indefinitely to protect the public from him. In the High Court at Wellington yesterday Justice Ron Young said Owen Ross Anderson's offending had begun as a teenager and had not been stopped by jail or attempts at treatment. Anderson, 39, had 77 previous convictions covering sex, violence, property and traffic offences. A Wellington District Court jury found him guilty of indecently assaulting a 12-year-old boy and doing an indecent act in front of the boy and his 15-year-old brother. The judge had declined to sentence Anderson in that court; instead he was sent to the High Court where the open-ended term of preventive detention could be considered.

Justice Young said Anderson was a high risk to reoffend and said a finite jail term would not protect the public. Anderson can be considered for parole after serving five years of his term. The latest offences happened in December 2002 when the victims were staying with their aunt, who was a friend of Anderson. Anderson showed them pornography and later, when he thought they were asleep, touched the younger boy. He stopped when the older brother woke.

Note, Anderson (who's offending involved premeditation) had attended the Kia Marama therapy programme but was still assessed as being at "high risk of reoffending". A psychiatric report stated that Anderson's motivation or ability to complete any rehabilitative programme to address his paedophilia is unlikely