At a Parole Board hearing last month, 35-year-old Alex Aleti Seu described the delays in getting counselling as “unacceptable”.
Corrections psychology and programmes general manager Jessica Borg concurred.
“I would like to take this opportunity to apologise to Ms Seu for any distress she has suffered due to the delay in receiving treatment,” she said.
“She has been placed on the waitlist with high priority and will be offered treatment at the earliest opportunity.”
Seu has been behind bars since 2016, before she pleaded guilty to a raft of sex charges, which included violating a drunk man in a Dunedin churchyard.
The transgender woman was jailed for six years, nine months and was declined parole for the second time when the revelation about her treatment wait was aired last month.
Aside from that, Corrections staff spoke “very highly” of the prisoner and her focus on her creative writing studies.
Panel convener Tania Williams Blyth suggested a move from Auckland Prison to Christchurch.
“Psychological treatment may be more readily available, and she has a better chance of developing a strong release,” she said.
Seu’s offending began in June 2016.
She had been to the theatre while her victim had watched the All Blacks play Wales in an Octagon bar.
The woman followed him down George St and dragged him into a darkened alleyway where a range of sex acts took place.
The victim broke free but Seu pursued him down Great King St and into the grounds of a church where the attack continued.
She was also sentenced for indecent assaults against former flatmates which took place a couple of months later.
A report assessed her as a high risk of reoffending.
Ms Berg said Seu had initially been scheduled to do group therapy but was later deemed “unsuitable”.
It was recommended she undertake individual psychological sessions but others were prioritised over her.
Covid-19 had also caused problems in prisons, Ms Berg said, as had the national and international shortage of psychologists.
Seu will next be seen by the Parole Board in April. Her sentence expires in July 2023.
