Trespassing sexual offenders

The Whanganui council’s reaction to Stuart Wilson’s release has been striking:

Whanganui’s public “shunning” of Wilson will be coordinated by councillors Jack Bullock and Ray Stevens.
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Mayor Annette Main said the decisions made by the council [to ban Wilson from public areas] would help keep the community safe from sex offenders such as Wilson.

Back in March we blogged about a paper on recidivism among sexual offenders. It found that community notification and reaction to released offenders actually increased the likelihood of re-offending. By making release to unpalatable to the offender it decreases the cost to them of going back to jail. Thus it may be that the Whanganui council’s actions, which reduce the deterrent of jail, may actually be placing the community at greater risk.