New Zealand Parole Board -

Parole Hearing

Under section 21(2) of the Parole Act 2002

Raurangi Mark MARINO

Hearing: 10 October 2018

at Auckland Prison

Members of the Board:

• Mr J Thomson – Panel Convenor
• Mr C King
• Mr L Tawera

Counsel:

• Ms S Earl

Support Persons:

• [withheld]
• [withheld]

DECISION OF THE BOARD

1. Raurangi Mark Marino, 23, has made another appearance before the Board for the consideration of early release on parole.  He is serving a sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment imposed on 29 February 2012.  Mr Marino became eligible for parole on 30 April 2015 and the sentence ends on 28 December 2021.
2. The sentence was imposed for the rape of a young girl under 12, burglary and aggravated wounding.  The offences were committed against a young girl aged five who was not known to him.
3. The current offences were committed when Mr Marino was aged 16.  There are no previous convictions on his list.  He has a RoC*RoI score of 0.739.  At present he has a low security classification.
4. The last appearance before the Board was on 31 January 2018.  Through counsel, Mr Marino stated that he was not seeking release.  He was currently undertaking the Child Sex Offender Treatment Programme.  He was due to complete this in March.  The Board observed that Mr Marino had completed the Drug Treatment Programme in 2016.
5. The Board has on file a psychologist’s report dated 6 June 2018.  This is a treatment report rather than a full assessment.  It confirms that Mr Marino completed the programme at Te Piriti on 1 March this year.  It is clear from his involvement that he benefited from his attendance at the Drug Treatment Programme.  During the programme at Te Piriti there was some uncertainty with regard to [withheld].  There was an acute shame over his offending.  The psychologist makes no formal assessment of risk but observes that alcohol and drug use would increase any risk of offending.  While the psychologist sees the release plan as viable, it is recommended that Mr Marino should continue to work with his case manager to strengthen the release plan and to have guided releases to assist with his re-entry into the community.
6. In an earlier psychologist’s report from March 2018, Mr Marino’s risk of general and violent offending was assessed as high and his risk of sexual offending as moderate to high.
7. At the hearing today Mr Marino was represented by counsel Ms Earl.  Counsel underlined that Mr Marino had completed the programme at Te Piriti and had done well in his treatment.  He had prepared a relapse prevention plan and had taken part in a reintegration meeting.  She also pointed out that the offence was committed when Mr Marino was young, aged 16, and that now some years on he had matured.
8. The proposal for release is that Mr Marino would live at accommodation provided by [withheld].  As yet, no address or date of availability has been provided.  This of course leads to some difficulty for Mr Marino.  Without a date of availability of accommodation, the Board cannot set a date for his release.
9. The key support people in the community for Mr Marino are [withheld].  They live in [withheld].
10. Mr Marino came into custody when he was aged 16 and has spent many years in custody.  His reintegration into the community will not be without its challenges.  The Board’s view is that the recommendations contained in the most recent psychologist’s report should be followed.  He should work with his case manager to strengthen the release plan and he should be allowed to undertake guided release as a means of a staged re-entry into the community.
11. Currently the Board is not satisfied that the release plan for Mr Marino is sufficient to manage his risk in the community.
12. Parole is declined.  Mr Marino will be scheduled to be seen by the Board again in April 2019.  In the meantime, it is hoped that he is able to undertake the recommended reintegration activities described above.