A Christchurch paedophile who communicated with a dangerous Otago sex offender while on parole will be locked up for at least another 18 months.
Matthew Garland Kelly, 30, appeared before the Parole Board yesterday where he admitted he needed the "very firm reset".
Kelly was jailed for 12 and a-half years on a slew of offences, which included sex attacks against young girls and paying a woman to film herself abusing her infant child.
He was paroled in May despite being assessed as an above-average risk of further sex offending, and lasted four months before being recalled to prison to continue serving his sentence.
Kelly had unlawfully contacted his partner 17 times, discussing two of his victims, and when authorities packed up his belongings at his supported accommodation they found a photo of a child along with letters from a high-risk sex offender serving preventive detention (an indefinite prison term) at the Otago Corrections Facility.
There were also calls between him and the inmate that indicated "collusive behaviour" in trying to deceive the Parole Board regarding the photo.
At Kelly’s hearing yesterday — attended by the Otago Daily Times — he told the board he was struggling while in the community but hid it from supporters.
"I wasn’t coping so I was using negative and deviant thinking to combat my emotions," he said.
"I pretty much had thrown out everything I had learned."
He said he took accountability for the actions that landed him back behind bars.
"There’s really no justification for any of that."
Kelly’s security classification was being reassessed and if it was low-medium, as expected, he would be eligible to attend the Kia Marama programme for child sex offenders.
It was a course he had done before, but he said he was motivated to resit it.
In 2016, Kelly was jailed for five years after his electronic devices were seized following a raid at his home, NZME reported.
They revealed he paid a 24-year-old Auckland woman $300 to send a video of her performing a sex act on her infant child, among other objectionable publications.
In 2019, Kelly had another seven and a-half years added to his sentence over sex offences committed against two teenage girls, one of whom he raped in a park beside a church.
Panel convener Martha Coleman said Kelly would see the Parole Board again in 18 months after undergoing "very important" treatment.
Advertisement
