Warning: This story discusses graphic sexual assault and may be distressing

A notorious sex offender will remain behind bars after making “no progress” and showing “no interest” in treatment programmes in the 15 years since he was sentenced.

The Parole Board says North Canterbury man Johnathan Andrew Smallbon, now 46, remains an undue risk to the public and will not be released for the foreseeable future.

Smallbon was sentenced to preventive detention by consent in 2007 after he admitted a vicious and prolonged sexual and violent attack on a 24-year-old man in Christchurch.

The horrific 17-hour attack came just six months after he was deported from Australia where he spent seven years in prison for similar offending against two young men.

Johnathan Smallbon blamed party pills for his lack of control. Photo / Christchurch Star

Smallbon was being closely monitored by Christchurch police at the time as he was considered a high risk of reoffending.

When he arrived back in New Zealand in mid-2006 he moved into a mid-city boarding house.

While there, he lured his 24-year-old neighbour into his room under the premise of helping move furniture.

Smallbon then held a knife to the man and tied him up on the bed using a telephone cord.

He cut the victim’s clothes away, gagged him with his own sock and threatened to kill him.

Before Smallbon let the man go, he throttled him until he could not breathe.

Smallbon was sentenced to preventive detention, meaning he will remain in prison until the Parole Board deems him suitable for release.

Even then he would remain managed by Corrections for the rest of his life and can be recalled to prison at any time.

The recidivist offender became eligible for parole in March 2015 and since then has waived his right to any hearings before the board.

His latest chance at an early release was offered last month.

Sir Ron Young, Parole Board chairman. Photo / Aaron Smale, IKON Media

The Parole Board decision was provided to the Herald.

Board chairman Sir Ron Young described Smallbon’s most recent offending as “extremely serious violent sexual offending”.

“When we saw him last, two years ago, we indicated that we thought he needed the Kia Marama Programme and the Drug Treatment Programme but that his behaviour was aggressive and poor and at that stage he also waived his attendance,” Young said.

“As to the current position, he declined to be interviewed by the psychologist.

“It is difficult to advance matters when Mr Smallbon does not appear before the board and refuses to participate in assessment interviews.”

Smallbon is currently still classed as a high-security inmate

Young said the plan for Smallbon going forward was to “try and work with him over a period” alongside a prison psychologist, to “try and assist him in improving his behaviour so that he can function adequately in prison”.

He hoped that in about nine months the board would be in a position to “review the way forward to try and begin his rehabilitation”.

“It is quite clear that Mr Smallbon, over the last many years, has not made any real progress at all and is not interested in doing so,” Young said.

“We will see him again in two years’ time with the hope that he has been prepared to participate in the work he was identified to do, to improve his behaviour, and with improved behaviour start with his rehabilitation.

“In the meantime, he remains an undue risk.”

Smallbon’s next appearance before the Parole Board will not be until October 2024.

However, Young said that the board intended to give him notice of a postponement order before that hearing.

Under the Parole Act, the board is able to postpone parole hearings for up to five years for offenders on long-term sentences if there is “no realistic possibility of them being released”.

Postponement orders of three, four or five years may be made for offenders serving a finite sentence of 10 years or more, a life sentence, or preventive detention.

Offenders given notice of postponement orders have a legal right to apply for an earlier reconsideration of parole if they believe that “there has been a significant change in their circumstances during the postponement period”.

Young also noted that there was “a real possibility” that when and if Smallbon was granted parole, the board could make an order “excluding him on any release from the South Island”.

“But at least Canterbury is probable,” he noted.

Victim says: Keep him locked up forever

When NZME revealed Smallbon’s offending in 2007 his victim spoke exclusively to senior reporter Anna Leask.

“He said to me: ‘Don’t say anything. This is your life’,” he said.

“I was just praying he wasn’t going to rape me.

“He was calm as, and whenever I did struggle he’d put the knife back at my throat.”

The offending had a significant impact on the young man, who had to leave Christchurch as a result of the trauma.

“When he got deported he should have been put in some other place away from people until he was proven to be fit for New Zealand society, which obviously he wasn’t,” the victim said.

“I’ve got a lot of anger towards him - he should have been put in some sort of rehabilitation or corrections facility.”

The Parole Board says Johnathan Smallbon must stay behind bars for at least two more years. Photo / NZME

The life and crimes of Johnathan Smallbon

When Smallbon was in police custody in Australia for attacks on two young men he told psychologist Geoffrey Ballard that anger over his sexual orientation led to years of loneliness and unhappiness - and ultimately his offending against other males.

The insight into Smallbon’s mind is revealed in New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal reports.

Smallbon had been brought up in North Canterbury and attended Swannanoa School before moving to Rangiora. Then he went to Australia, where his father lived, in 1995.

Smallbon left school in Year 9 and from the age of 16 was using marijuana and drinking heavily.

He was sexually abused by an older man. He also claimed that a friend his own age initiated sexual contact with him, leading him to attempt suicide three times.

Ballard’s report reveals he said that he was a homosexual, and could not be open about his sexual orientation as he had been brought up to believe that it was wrong. He admitted he wanted to experiment sexually with men, but said his primary motivation was to release his anger.

Ballard said Smallbon had “directed his aggression and violence against a male society with which he desperately wanted to connect, but which, at the same time, he hated”.

“Mr Smallbon has been, and is, a disturbed and confused young man.”

On July 2, 1998, Smallbon appeared in court for the first time on charges of kidnapping, indecent assault, committing acts of indecency with a person under 16 and assault causing bodily harm.

His victim was a 16-year-old youth who approached Smallbon’s Sydney house collecting for the Arthritis Foundation.

Smallbon grabbed the boy and held a knife to his throat, pulling him inside the house.

He assaulted the boy and forced him to smoke cannabis and to perform sexual acts. He forced him to the floor, tied him up and choked him. Ballard said for a long time Smallbon had fought against his sexual orientation and gender identity.

“He has a sense of shame, guilt and low self-esteem, living his life in isolation. Gender disorder has resulted in anger and aggression leading to criminal offences.”

Smallbon had turned to drugs to escape the reality of his isolated and “very tortured” life.

Smallbon was held in custody for his attack on the charity collector for 10 weeks before being released on bail.

Thirteen days later he attacked a 14-year-old boy, kidnapping, sexually assaulting and choking him in a prolonged attack.

Smallbon was sentenced to seven years and nine months with a non-parole period of four years. Having served his sentence, he was deported to New Zealand in August 2006.

He returned to Rangiora but soon moved to Christchurch, where his offending began again.

SEXUAL HARM - DO YOU NEED HELP?

If it’s an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111.

If you’ve ever experienced sexual assault or abuse and need to talk to someone contact the Safe to Talk confidential crisis helpline on:

Text 4334 and they will respond

Email [email protected]

Visit https://safetotalk.nz/contact-us/ for an online chat

Alternatively, contact your local police station - click here for a list.

If you have been abused, remember it’s not your fault.

MALE SEXUAL ABUSE SURVIVORS

Where to get help:
If it's an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
• If you've ever experienced sexual assault or abuse and need to talk to someone call the confidential crisis helpline Safe to Talk on 0800 044 334 or text 4334. (available 24/7)
• Male Survivors Aotearoa offers a range of confidential support at centres across New Zealand - find your closest one here.
• Mosaic - Tiaki Tangata: 0800 94 22 94 (available 11am-8pm)
• Alternatively contact your local police station - click here for a list.
If you have been abused, remember it's not your fault.