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Offender Databases Michael Gray

Michael William James Gray

Alias

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Offences

Sexual abuse of five Invercargill boys aged 9-14 over ten years from 1994
Previous sexual offending between 1968 and 1974

Victims

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Offender Affiliations

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Gang affiliations

none known

Age

Born 1952

Current Location

Prison

Parole/Release Dates

Sentenced to preventive detention with a 5 year minimum non-parole period in March 2004
Sentenced to preventive detention with a 5 year minimum non-parole period in October 2005
Both sentences are to be served concurrently

Background
From the Southland Times, Mar 10, 2004
An Invercargill man had caused havoc to the lives of five young boys he sexually abused and there was a high risk he would continue to offend if he did not receive treatment, Justice Panckhurst said in the High Court at Invercargill yesterday. Michael William James Gray, a 51-year-old Invercargill waste water treatment plant operator, was sentenced to preventive detention, with a minimum jail term of five years, after he had admitted 10 charges, including sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection and indecent assault.

Justice Panckhurst said the offending took place over 10 years from 1994 against five boys aged between nine and 14 at the time, and included acts of nudity, fondling, masturbation, oral sex and simulated anal intercourse. Pre-sentence reports by a psychologist and forensic psychiatrist found Gray had "a limited degree of empathy" for the victims. "Instead your focus was a self-centred one relating to your own predicament," Justice Panckhurst said.

Earlier, Gray was allowed to address the court. "I want to say to the victims that I have hurt, that it's not their fault and that it's my fault and I accept responsibility for that. I want them to understand that they did nothing wrong. "I betrayed their trust, I betrayed everybody and I have hurt so many people and I would just like to say ... I will never forget what I have done and, for what it's worth, I won't forgive myself, either."

Justice Panckhurst said he had a "measure of sympathy" for Gray, who had himself been a victim of sexual abuse. "But I am afraid, in the end, faced with offending of this kind ... my focus must be on the safety of the community and young boys." Gray had a history of sexual offending dating back to the late 1960s, although there was a 20-year period of no offending, between 1974 and 1994. However, his last period of offending had been progressive and sinister.

Justice Panckhurst said Gray had entered early guilty pleas, sparing the boys from court appearances to give evidence. Gray was also an ideal candidate for treatment, he said. "Your fate is in your own hands." If Gray accepted treatment and changed, "you will be released." However, that would not happen for at least five years and was at the discretion of the parole board, Justice Panckhurst said.

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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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