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Offender Databases Duane Ohlson

Duane Tracey Ohlson

Alias

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Offences

Attempted rape, aggravated burglary, indecent assault, and detention for sexual intercourse of a 16 year old Christchurch girl in a home invasion in August 2000
Assaulted a Paparua prison nurse with a knife and threatened to kill her in April 2001
. Prior convictions include a screwdriver attack on a 12-year- old girl in her home in 1997 and a 1986 conviction for wounding a 20-year-old woman with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
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Victims

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Offender Affiliations

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Gang affiliations

none known

Age

Born 1970

Current Location

Prison

Parole/Release Dates

Sentenced to 12 years with a 10 year minimum non-parole period in October 2000
Sentenced to a 2 year cumulative term in May 2001 for the prison nurse attack

Background
The Press, Christchurch April 2001
A man labelled a danger to young women -- after a determined attempt to rape a teenager in her home last year -- has struck again within a year, despite a long jail term. In the Christchurch District Court yesterday Duane Tracey Ohlson, 31, pleaded guilty to assaulting a Paparua prison nurse with a knife and threatening to kill her. Ohlson had a history of violent attacks on women spanning 15 years, including attacking a 12-year-old girl with a screwdriver after breaking into her home.

In the High Court in Christchurch last October he was ordered to serve at least 10 years of a 12-year jail term imposed for the attempted rape, aggravated burglary, indecent assault, and detention for sexual intercourse.

THE PRESS, October 7th 2000
A man who sexually attacked a 16-year-old girl in her Christchurch home has been jailed for 12 years under home-invasion laws. Duane Tracey Ohlson, 30, unemployed, had earlier pleaded guilty to charges of attempted rape, aggravated burglary, indecent assault, and detention for sexual intercourse. Justice Panckhurst yesterday jailed Ohlson for a total of 12 years, of which a minimum of 10 must be served.

Home-invasion laws have rarely been invoked in Christchurch and Ohlson's offending is the most serious case to qualify to date. Defence lawyer Greg Trainor said he accepted home-invasion laws applied in this case. He said there were significant aggravating features, including the victim's age, the impact on her, and Ohlson's previous offending. Mr Trainor said it was his contention that the attack was not premeditated but opportunistic. The mitigating circumstances were few but Ohlson's early guilty plea had to be noted. Crown prosecutor Jane Farish said Ohlson's history included a 1986 conviction for wounding a 20-year-old woman with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Ohlson was also imprisoned for a screwdriver attack on a 12-year- old girl in her home in 1997. She said Ohlson's previous offending showed he was a risk to the community and he should be given a term of imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period.

Justice Panckhurst said Ohlson broke into the girl's house, waited until she arrived home, and then lured her up to a front room. Ohlson punched her, removed her clothes, and tied her up. "Only when the extent of her resistance was plain did you desist in the sexual attack," the judge said. Justice Panckhurst said the victim impact report made "awful" reading. He said Ohlson had been convicted numerous times in the past 16 years and had a tragic background, including drug and alcohol abuse, and "the fact that you would reoffend as you have done is almost inevitable".

Justice Panckhurst said Ohlson's case was a demonstration of the limits of the prison system's efforts to rehabilitate. "If anything, you're worse as a result of the terms of prison you served." He said Ohlson had admitted that given the same set of circumstances he would offend again. Preventive detention would have been the option if it was available. "The protection of the public, in particular young women, is the paramount consideration," the judge said. Justice Panckhurst said the home-invasion laws required an "emphatic" increase in the sentence and the starting point was 15 years. He took three years off for Ohlson's guilty plea and sentenced him to a total of 12 years jail, of which a minimum of 10 had to be served.

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Corrections and Additional Information
We endeavour to make this database as accurate as possible, but we are at the mercy of whatever information we can find in various online and offline archives. We rely on the public - that is, people like you - to fill in the gaps that we cannot. If you wish to submit additional information or a correction to this file CLICK HERE . Privacy: Trust policy is that all sources are treated as strictly confidential unless we are explicitly told otherwise. If you wish to see a file removed from this database certain conditions must be met by the offender set out HERE Note that this does NOT apply for those that are the primary offender in a murder, rape, or any sexual offending involving minors. We do not enter into correspondence regarding the guilt/innocence of offenders. Such correspondence is not responded to, especially if the offender concerned has a number of prior convictions

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