Forty-eight child sex offenders with extended supervision orders have been paroled in Otago over the past five years but the Department of Corrections will not say where they live.
Statistics provided to the Otago Daily Times under the Official Information Act show 10 parolees with an extended supervision order (ESO) paroled to the district up to May 31 this year.
That number is up two on the 2014-15 year.
An ESO is a monitoring order for offenders who have been sent to prison for child sex offending and are considered at "high risk of committing further child sex offences'' upon release. ESOs can be renewed for "as long as they are needed''.
Department of Corrections national commissioner Jeremy Lightfoot said in a statement the department was "statutorily obligated'' to protect these offenders' privacy rights so could not release the area or street they lived in.
Mr Lightfoot considered the public's interest in the request but did not believe it was significant enough.
However, all addresses had been verified, he said.
"No offender would be placed at an address if it was considered that their risk could not be safely managed.''
Details about how many child sex offenders with ESOs paroled to Otago towns from other districts, was not considered to be an "appropriate use'' of publicly funded resources, Mr Lightfoot said.
