A hostile reaction from locals has forced a man convicted of possessing child sex images to pull out of a plan to move into a house across the road from a kindergarten in Taranaki.
Windows at the Opunake house were smashed last week prompting John Francis Hubbard, 66, serving a four and a half month sentence of home detention, to put the property up for sale.
Hubbard admitted 15 charges of possessing objectionable images in New Plymouth District Court earlier this year and is due to finish his sentence on December 10.
"It has been a very stressful time for me. The response has been far from welcoming, so I've decided to put the property on the market," he told the Taranaki Daily News.
Hubbard, who has received counselling, has no restrictions on where he can live after serving his sentence but said he did not pose a risk.
"The kindergarten has nothing to fear from me at all. I have no intention of causing any offence or trouble for anyone," he said.
Police found the images on computer equipment when they raided his home in August 2010.
NZN