A guardian of a Dunedin toddler abducted earlier this year is angry at the sentence given to the woman who took the child.
Yvonne Annelie Skeet (47) was sentenced to 12 months' intensive supervision when she appeared in the Dunedin District Court last month.
She pleaded guilty to the abduction of her 2-year-old granddaughter from the Otago Farmers' Market on February 2.
Skeet - the former wife of the child's grandfather - was found with the child at a South Dunedin home the next morning, following a tip-off from a member of the public.
The child's grandfather is her Child, Youth and Family-appointed caregiver and has a guardianship order in his favour.
Skeet had previously been ordered to have no contact with the child.
Gillian Murphy - the partner of the girl's grandfather - contacted the Otago Daily Times to say the family had been affected by the experience and was angry at the sentence.
''We feel we are the ones on the lookout all the time, fearful that she will do it again.''
The couple tried not to make a fuss around the child when they were reunited with her, but there had been some notable changes as a result of the ordeal.
''She doesn't go to people like she used to. She is an innocent but she is more reticent to go to people and she hangs around your legs a bit more.
''How sad that a very loving and open little girl knows something is wrong.''
The family recently returned to the Dunedin market and ''she was right by us and a man came walking towards us and she ran to me saying, 'Man coming, man coming, man coming', and ran behind my legs''.
''She has been changed by it. As the weeks have gone on, she is coming back around again. It scared her.''
Ms Murphy said, given the political rhetoric following high-profile cases involving children, she expected a tougher sentence.
''It just seems crazy to me and I am really angry about it.''
Instead, the family felt they had been sentenced, and their freedom curtailed.
''That creepy feeling in your back that you have to watch her all the time, you can't let her wander off. You have to be by her all the time.
''We are more reticent about going to public places. I mean, why risk it?''
Justice Minister Judith Collins and Social Development Minister Paula Bennett declined to comment about a specific case.
Ms Bennett released the White Paper for Vulnerable Children on October 11, which includes a new Vulnerable Kids Information System, which will enable high-risk adults to be tracked and monitored through the system.
