Tribunal lets Kiwi offender stay A NEW Zealander who was jailed in Queensland for a sexual offence against his niece, 14, is likely to escape deportation, following a tribunal decision. The man, 25, who has been in Australia since 2007, was charged with indecently dealing with a child in his care in 2010. He was last May sentenced to 18 months' jail, suspended for three years after he served six months, and was acquitted of a rape charge. After his release in November, Immigration cancelled the man's visa and held him in detention. The Administrative Appeals Tribunal heard the man was staying with his niece in a country hotel when he indecently touched her, while drunk. The sentencing judge said they were deliberate acts and dismissed as "absurd and unbelievable" the man's claims that he was drunk and thought he was engaging in sexual activity with a friend. The tribunal heard that the man's former employer in a Queensland regional town was willing to offer him a place in his family home. But the man does not have any immediate family in Australia, apart from his victim, now 17, and her mother, and most of his immediate family, including a young son, live in New Zealand, the tribunal heard. Although the Immigration Minister had a right to cancel the man's visa because he was sentenced to more than 12 months' jail for a sexual offence, a tribunal member decided he deserved another chance. The AAT's Professor Robert Deutsch decided there was low risk of reoffending if he was allowed to stay and set aside the decision to cancel the visa.