http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3040726a11,00.html
DEBORAH DIAZ
Tougher sentencing and parole laws have led to a surge in the number of child sex offenders seeking rehabilitation. Auckland Prison's Te Piriti special treatment unit, one of two New Zealand units running programmes for child sex abusers, is fully booked for the next 18 months. The unit at Paremoremo used to have to actively seek out inmates to fill 60 places.
Rehabilitation works, according to evaluations. Only about 5.75 per cent of Te Piriti's graduates reoffend, and the rate is even lower among Maori, at 4.7 per cent.
In other words, only one in 20 inmates will abuse another child. This rises to one in five, if abusers do not undergo a programme.
