Glyn Tatham is on an extended supervision order for repeated child sex offences until 2030. PHOTO: STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER A high-risk sex offender breached a condition of a High Court order the same day it was imposed. Glyn Donald Tatham, 53, appeared in the Dunedin District Court this week and admitted three breaches of an extended supervision order (ESO). Such orders are only imposed on high-risk offenders and allow probation officers to monitor and manage them for up to 10 years at a time. In the High Court at Hamilton in August 2024, the defendant was made subject to an ESO for five years after he racked up a slew of sex offences against children. On October 28 last year, an extra condition was added to the order, prohibiting Tatham from accessing the internet and social media. But that same day, the defendant sent a Facebook message referring to his ‘‘useless probation officer’’, a Corrections summary said. The message was later brought to the attention of police. Two further breaches came on May 19 this year when the defendant messaged another person via Facebook using an internet-capable device which he was not allowed to have. Tatham knew the risk he was running. In March this year, he was sentenced to three months’ community detention for setting up a secret social media page in breach of his ESO conditions. He had a third party set up an Instagram account on his behalf and would send them photos with instructions on what to post. This week, after admitting the most recent breaches, Tatham was remanded in custody to be sentenced in September. In 2021, he was jailed for three and a-half years before the High Court at Rotorua after being found guilty of two counts of indecent assault and one of sexual violation against a young boy. The crimes, which were committed in 1997, came just weeks apart and involved the sexual assault of his victim during the night. ‘‘It has affected him deeply in many different ways,’’ the sentencing judge said. ‘‘You need to understand that he believes that you have effectively ruined his life.’’ felicity.dear@odt.co.nz
