Patrick McGreevy has a history of breaching supervision orders and has cut off monitoring bracelets in the past.

A sex offender with a history of evading authorities has been caught after cutting off his electronic monitoring bracelet and going on the run in Christchurch.

Patrick McGreevy, 45, was arrested in Christchurch at 5.35pm Saturday, police said.

He will appear in court on Monday morning.

Police regard McGreevy as a high-risk offender.

He has convictions for sexual offending against a child, abduction and dishonesty and is under a 10--year extended supervision order, expiring in 2019.

Police said he posed a risk to the community and have called for public help in finding him.

McGreevy removed his monitoring bracelet and was last known to be in Christchurch shortly before 1am on Saturday.

Officers originally visited the address he was staying at soon after but could not find him.

Corrections southern regional commissioner Ian Bourke said staff notified police of McGreevy's absconding within 10 minutes of the bracelet tamper alarm being activated.

McGreevy removed another bracelet in 2008 and was at large for four days.

Police had earlier warned anyone who saw McGreevy to not approach him.

McGreevy went on the run twice in 2008, while an extended supervision order was being considered. After breaching bail he was ordered to wear a monitoring bracelet and have a minder at times.

Soon after, McGreevy slipped off the bracelet and ran away from his minder. He handed himself into Greymouth police after four days on the run. In November that year he fled his court-ordered Christchurch address and went to Timaru. He was found in a disoriented state at Timaru Hospital and was briefly jailed again.

His case was cited in a 2009 initiative where Corrections officers were assigned to monitor New Zealand's worst offenders when they were paroled. The move came after the release of a damning report by the Auditor-General on the parole system.

McGreevy had since appeared in court for further breaches of the supervision order.

Christchurch District Court Judge Gary MacAskill told him in 2011 that he needed to accept the terms of living under extended supervision.

"The reality of your life is that is oppressive."