Jailed former youth running coach Alan Rubick claims there are more victims of his sex crimes

WARNING: This story discusses sexual abuse and may be distressing for some readers.

A former youth running coach and scout leader has seemingly confessed from behind bars that there may be up to 150 unaccounted victims of his sexual offending.

But the admission made to the Parole Board by sexual predator Alan Rubick, who has been locked up for the past 10 years for his crimes against boys, was not passed on to police due to it not being deemed “suitable” for referral.

However, after NZME approached police with the information, they acknowledged the possibility Rubick could have more victims and encouraged anyone who has been a victim of this offending to come forward – a message the Parole Board has also echoed.

Two of Rubick’s victims have insisted there are more and believe Rubick, now 72, poses a continued risk to the community and must remain in jail.

The men, both of whom have name suppression, implored any victims of Rubick’s who have not previously made a complaint to police, to do so.

“The more noise that we make about him, the higher the chance that he stays in there forever,” one of them said when speaking to NZME this week.

Rubick was sentenced in 2014 to preventive detention with a non-parole period of eight years on a raft of admitted sex charges against boys between 7 and 14, and 20 charges of possessing objectionable material, spanning a period between 1995 and 2013.

When sentencing Rubick, Justice Ron Young said he showed little remorse and was skilled in identifying vulnerable boys.

The former youth running coach, children’s DJ and scout leader showed his victims pornography, engaged in masturbation and oral sex, and filmed some of the acts. Police found 12,157 objectionable images in his possession.

Rubick, who lived in Upper Hutt before returning to his hometown of Whanganui in the early 2000s, is currently in Rolleston Prison and has been eligible for parole since July 2021.

At his latest hearing before the Parole Board, the possibility of there being more victims was raised.

According to the decision, he had told a psychologist there were somewhere between 30 and 150 unaccounted for.

But then he backpedalled, saying his only victims were those who had already come forward and that he had embellished the figure to “gain status and respect”.

Rubick went on to tell the psychologist there were six additional victims.

When speaking to the Parole Board about the issue, he reverted to his original claim, stating there were 140 to 150 victims unaccounted for.

He said he had been offending “virtually constantly” between 1966 and 2013 and that he focused on young boys aged 7 to 15 years.

In its decision, the board said Rubick’s revelations were extremely worrying.

“It is very difficult to know whether Mr Rubick is telling the truth or grossly exaggerating his victim numbers.

“As the psychologist noted, Mr Rubick has said he had claimed additional victims to gain some form of strange status and respect.

“For the moment at least, we work on the basis that what he said to us is accurate.”

When asked by NZME about its obligations when an offender discloses further previous offending directly to the Parole Board, a spokesperson said the board has the discretion to refer the information to police.

“The Board has exercised this discretion in the past where the information disclosed was considered to be sufficiently detailed to enable the Police to undertake investigations.

“In the case of Mr Rubick’s hearing the information was so vague that it was not considered suitable for referring to the Police.”

But the spokesperson said the board hoped any further victims would contact police and encouraged them to do so.

Whanganui Area Investigations manager Inspector Phil Taylor told NZME that police had not been advised of Rubick’s recent admission and were not immediately aware of any extra or previously unknown victims, or further complaints since he was sentenced.

“However, this man was a prolific child sex offender and there is always a possibility that victims have not been identified,” he said in an emailed statement.

“We take sexual abuse seriously and would encourage anyone who has been a victim of this offending to reach out to Police, or other support services to ensure they are receiving the support they need.”

Taylor said all police reports would be taken seriously and work would be done to ensure the offender is held accountable for their actions.

One of Rubick’s victims believes there are others but was dubious of his claim it could be up to 150.

“I wondered if that was him wanting to be the best paedophile in prison, for want of a better phrase, trying to be the top dog.

“But it’s over a long period of time, so it could be true.”

Whatever the truth, the man said Rubick was highly manipulative and he needed to remain behind bars.

He believed “there’s no doubt that [if released] he’ll start offending again”.

Another victim agreed, saying he felt Rubick was unable to be rehabilitated.

The man believed there were at least a further 50 victims, given his lengthy involvement with children-centric activities.

He said Rubick needed to “pay the price” for his crimes against them as well.

“If they [possible victims] are able to, they should come forward.

“They haven’t done anything wrong, there’s no shame in it. He’s the piece of s*** who has taken advantage of the position of authority that he was in.”

The Parole Board’s decision stated Rubick had completed the Child Sex Offender Treatment Programme and that while his conduct on the programme was generally acceptable, there were some “worrying exceptions”, noting he could be aggressive and quick to anger.

The decision referred to a psychologist’s report which said Rubick was highly disclosive regarding his sexual preferences and offence process.

He is assessed as being an above-average risk of sexual reoffending and will next appear before the board in September 2025.

The board hoped by that time he would have completed further rehabilitative work and begun to work on reintegration.

Tara Shaskey joined NZME in 2022 as a news director and Open Justice reporter. She has been a reporter since 2014 and previously worked at Stuff where she covered crime and justice, arts and entertainment, and Māori issues.