Raymond John Belsey, 28, was assessed as being at a "very high risk" of further offending, according to a psychologist, and he refused to meet Corrections staff to prepare a release plan before this month’s parole hearing at the Invercargill Prison, the board said.
At present Belsey is serving a sentence of nearly six years for a range of crimes.
He was first locked up in February 2020 for the aggravated robbery of a Christchurch Subway outlet in which he threatened staff members with a rock.
The greater portion of his prison term was imposed for a sex attack on his cellmate at the Otago Corrections Facility in July 2020.
The two men clashed over sexualised comments the defendant made about a 10-year-old girl who featured in a television advertisement.
When the victim took him to task, Belsey threw the remote at the television, jumped from his top bunk and smashed the device before violating the victim in his bunk.
Belsey maintained his innocence when he fronted the Parole Board, claiming the complaint was "maliciously motivated".
During the hearing, Belsey read a lengthy statement detailing his feelings of injustice at the jury’s verdict and the subsequent dismissals of his legal challenges by the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court.
He told the board he would continue to fight his conviction for unlawful sexual connection by approaching the Criminal Cases Review Commission, a body set up to investigate miscarriages of justice.
Before prisoners see the board, they meet Corrections staff so a parole assessment report can be prepared, which charts the progress the person has made during their sentence, what more they need to do and plans for their eventual release.
Belsey declined to participate, yet remained surprisingly optimistic.
"He was hopeful that the board would simply release him to make his own arrangements in the community, accepting his declaration of his innocence," panel convener Judge Geoffrey Ellis said.
"He must have been advised by his counsel that the Parole Board had no statutory authority to do that."
Judge Ellis said it was at least encouraging Belsey’s security status had been dropped to low-medium, which meant he was now eligible for more rehabilitative programmes.
