The Parole Board has decided to release the convicted rapist Brad Shipton.
The former police officer and Tauranga city councillor has served three years of an eight-and-a-half year sentence for taking part in the pack rape of a woman in Mt Maunganui in 1989.
One of his three co-accused, the businessman Peter McNamara, was released from prison in January after serving one third of his seven-year sentence.
The other convicted rapist, former police officer Bob Schollum, remains in jail.
The Parole Board's decision follows two psychological reports
that classify Shipton as being at a low risk of reoffending.
Even though he still denies the charges, the board says that denial is not a barrier to his release and he does not pose an "undue" risk to the safety of the community.
However, the board also says Shipton is a manipulative man, who has made inconsistent and incompatible statements, and is at times untruthful.
He can be released from prison this month and will remain on parole until the end of his sentence in 2014.
The exact date of his release and the address where he will reside have been withheld.
