New Zealand Parole Board -

There is an order prohibiting publication of the name, address and occupation or identifying particulars of the offender and/or victim.

Parole Hearing

Under section 21(2) of the Parole Act 2002

Ty-Rae Zachary CHERRY

Hearing: 21 March 2024

at Rolleston Prison via Ms Teams

Members of the Board:

Judge A Skellern

Mr P Elenio

Mr C Roberts

In Attendance: [withheld] - Case Manager

Support Persons: [withheld]

DECISION OF THE BOARD

1. Mr Cherry is aged 21 years.  He is serving a three year two month sentence of imprisonment for possessing, knowingly making or copying objectionable material child exploitation.  There were 15 charges in all.
2. Mr Cherry became eligible for parole on 30 December 2023.  His statutory release date is 8 February 2026, his sentence having commenced on 9 December 2022.  He has a RoC*Rol of .26108 and a security classification of minimum with an ASRS of 2.
3. Mr Cherry last appeared before the Board on 11 December 2023 and at that time the Board noted he was yet to be assessed for suitability for the MIP, for CSO, given his relative youth relevant to other participants.  [withheld].  The Board asked for an assessment as to what treatment in the community might look like.  The Board also noted that work needed to be done around a release address.
4. [withheld].
5. When considering Mr Cherry’s risk factors I note the Judge’s sentencing note which referred to aggravating issues in terms of Mr Cherry’s offending, including premeditation, direct engagement with others via Chat, active participation in distributing material, the period of offending and the number of videos and age of children involved, as well as the security measures taken to protect the collection.
6. Mr Cherry today was supported by [withheld].  In terms of his conduct in prison the PCO today said that there are no issues in terms of Mr Cherry’s conduct.
7. The latest Parole Assessment Report noted that due to an administrative error the PAR was assigned late and therefore an addendum was prepared.  The report stated that the STU clinical psychologist was due to commence assessment for the most suitable rehabilitation programme and that this would be available at the time of hearing.
8. Today we have been advised that Mr Cherry has been assessed but no decision is yet available.
9. Mr Cherry himself advised the Board that his would be decided next week and that one programme would likely commence at the end of this month and the other at the beginning or mid-April this year.
10. Given Mr Cherry remains untreated with his appropriate rehabilitative pathway just to be decided, he remains an undue risk.  The Board declines parole today and will see him again at the end of November 2024, at which time there will at the very least be a progress report in terms of his rehabilitative pathway.