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Offender Databases Phillip Cooper

Phillip James Cooper

Alias

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Offences

15 counts of sexual indecencies against five boys aged between 8 and 12
Eight of the counts relate to the years between 1987 and 1992 inclusive and concern three boys aged 1 to 12 at the time.
Seven counts relate to the period 1 May 1999 to 20 February 2000 inclusive and concern twins aged 10-11 at the time
Offending ocurred in both Palmerston North and the East Coast

Victims

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Offender Affiliations

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Gang affiliations

none known

Age

Born 1955

Current Location

At large in Gisborne

Parole/Release Dates

Sentenced to eight years in August 2001

Background
NZ Herald story here
Taranaki Daily News story here
Taranaki Daily News story 5th March 2009
The man removed from Patea on Sunday in the face of a public outcry was Phillip James Cooper, 54, who is serving a prison sentence of eight years for sexually abusing young boys.He was sentenced in 2001 at the age of 46, on 18 charges including indecent assault, inducing an indecent act, sexual violation and attempted sexual violation. The offences occurred between January 1987 and February 2000 in Napier, Palmerston North and in a trampers' hut in the Kaweka Ranges. Five boys were involved, aged between eight and 12 years. Two were twins. Cooper told the court he could not have offended because he had been impotent for at least four years.

The sentencing judge Justice Heron, described Cooper's conduct as predatory and the offending made him a candidate for preventive detention, but the Crown had not sought that sentence. It was not appropriate because Cooper was a first offender, "but I gave some consideration as to whether you should serve an indefinite sentence. That is particularly so because you have shown no acknowledgement of this offending and the outlook for you is somewhat bleak".

He noted that Cooper was an alcoholic who had lived a nomadic existence for the past 20 years. Cooper began his sentence on September 19, 2001 and is due to be released on August 12 this year. On February 12, a Parole Board hearing at Hawke's Bay Prison agreed to allow Cooper to be released on February 25, into the community under home detention restrictions with electronic monitoring, until his sentence expiry date.

The board report said: "His risk of reoffending can be reduced, his reintegration facilitated and the concerns of his victims met by a release on special conditions that restrict and manage his initial return into the community." The special release conditions included counselling for substance abuse; no alcohol or drugs; no contact with any person aged 16 or under without the written consent of the probation officer; not to enter New Plymouth, Palmerston North or Napier cities except to attend probation or counselling sessions, or for legal proceedings.

As the result of an application by the Community Probation and Psychological Service, the Parole Board has made an interim recall order and Cooper is back in prison. A hearing to determine whether or not to make a final order will be held within the next month. He must be released from prison on August 12, if he has not been released already by that date.

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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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