A sex offender who abused five girls over more 24 years has been denied parole after claiming he does not remember his offending.
Basil Raymond Heazlewood (77) was jailed for seven and a-half years after pleading guilty to 17 charges, including rape, on the eve of his Dunedin District Court trial in 2014.
The acts took place between 1961 and 1985, against five victims aged between 4 and 28.
At Heazlewood’s sentencing he listened to impassioned statements from them, in which they spoke about lives ‘‘destroyed’’ and stolen childhoods.
Judge Kevin Phillips said the man would ‘‘have to be made of stone’’ to be unmoved by such speeches.
A recent appearance before the Parole Board revealed the Heazlewood had not yet been admitted to the short intervention programme for child sex offenders while behind bars.
‘‘Although Mr Heazlewood expressed motivation to complete the programme he still says that he cannot recall any of the offending,’’ Parole Board panel convener Kathryn Snook said.
‘‘He accepts that he must have committed the offending, given the strong evidence against him. He said that is why he pleaded guilty at trial.’’
Given the man’s stance, it was unclear whether he would be admitted to the programme, Ms Snook said.
In considering parole, the board took into account discussions they had with one of Heazlewood’s victims.
‘‘She wanted us to convey to Mr Heazlewood that his actions had deeply affected her life. She wants him to fully admit the offending and undertake appropriate counselling and treatment for that offending. She sees merit in the possibility of a restorative justice meeting at some point. She does not want Mr Heazlewood to be released into the North Otago area,’’ the board said.
The prisoner did not have a release proposal in place and accepted at the hearing it would be unlikely he would be able to reside in the Otago region.
While the decision released to the Otago Daily Times noted Heazlewood had health issues, details of those were redacted.
He will next be before the board in February 2019.
Heazlewood’s sentence expiry date is November 2021.
