Fernando Do Nascimento Barbosa was jailed for raping his Tinder date. He will be released on parole soon to await his deportation. Photo / Supplied
A man jailed for raping his Tinder date was to be released from prison on parole this weekend and deported back to Brazil within hours.
But he will now remain in jail after a “miscommunication” led the Parole Board to wrongly believe he could board a flight unescorted.
In December, Brazilian national Fernando Do Nascimento Barbosa was jailed for three years and four months for raping his Tinder date in Christchurch in 2018.
He claimed he did not realise her repeated cries of “no” and trying to fight him off during the assault were a signal for him to stop.
When Barbosa was sentenced, a deportation order was made, meaning he had to leave the country as soon as possible when released from prison – either on parole or after serving his entire sentence, in late 2022.
The Parole Board had declined to release him early, saying he still posed an undue risk to the community given his lack of remorse – but indicated they may let him out if his deportation could go ahead or he would leave New Zealand voluntarily.
When an offender is deported from New Zealand they are accompanied by a police officer on the earliest available flight after they leave prison.
Due to Covid-19 travel restrictions, police are not able to escort criminals subject to deportation orders.
A deportee can also leave voluntarily if an airline will let them fly without an escort.
Late last month the board heard that travel back to Brazil had been booked for Barbosa for this Sunday.
His family had paid for the flights – from Christchurch to Auckland and then on to South America – and the board was told it had been confirmed he could travel unescorted.
His victim – who has been terrified he would be released into the community and she would…