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The Press
December 2 1992.
Child became 'withdrawn' after attendance at creche
A child complainant in the Christchurch Civic
Childcare Centre inquiry became withdrawn within two months of his attendance
at the creche, a preliminary hearing in the District Court was told
yesterday.
From being an "open and loving child" he withdrew and no longer
responded when he was hugged, his mother said.
He went from being fully toilet-trained to leaving it until the last minute
before going to the toilet. He began masturbating soon after he had started
at the creche.
The mother, whose name and occupation were suppressed, said she noticed small
bruises on her son's thighs, buttocks, and arms which she put down to
"rough play". She was giving evidence during the hearing of depositions
against five former centre staff who are accused of sexually abusing some
children who attended the creche.
Peter Hugh McGregor Ellis, aged 34, faces 45 indecency charges. Gaye Jocelyn
Davidson, aged 39, Janice Virginia Buckingham, aged 44, and Marie Keys, aged
44, face four charges. Deborah Janet Gillespie, aged 30, faces three charges.
The witness said her son had become volatile and aggressive if unable to wear
particular clothing and had headaches and sore stomachs every day.
He began to want the light left in the hall by his bedroom at night and the
door left open. He was fearful of going to sleep and said Ellis was outside
the window and coming to get him.
She said her son made an initial quick improvement after his first interview
with the specialist services unit of the Department of Social Welfare in May.
"He came out of the interview and skipped down the corridor. It was like
a weight had been lifted from him," she said.
That night she could not stop him talking. At one stage he turned to her like
a baby and cried. It was as though she had her boy back.
Cross-examined by Mr Gerald Nation, counsel for the four women defendants,
she said she had talked to Keys regarding her concerns about her son's
behaviour. The witness said she knew Ellis found her son hard to handle.
She had taken her son to see a homeopath, a naturopath, an occupational
therapist, and the family doctor to try to find a solution to his problems.
The mother said her son had told her that she would die if he told her about
the creche.
During a five-month period since May he had been very concerned and wanted to
talk at nights. He complained of monsters in his room and outside it.
The mother said she had taken her son past the Masonic Lodge in Gloucester Street
where the alleged sexual abuse was said to have occurred. She had done so
after first consulting with police, to observe her son's reaction.
As they walked past the lodge he grabbed her hand and said he did not like
the building, which he found scary.
She had also taken her son to an address in Hereford Street where it is alleged
indecencies occurred, and parked opposite the building.
The witness said that even though some of the things her son had told her
were bizarre and far-fetched, she believed what he told her. She was
convinced by his fear and body language when he spoke of particular events.
She agreed with a suggestion by Mr Nation that her son had always been a bit
of a handful and that the inquiry had been a stressful time for the family.
She also agreed that her son had been at the centre of emotional intensity
from the family, which contrasted with the previous year which was relatively
low-key and untraumatic.
An earlier witness said he was aware that Ellis had been given a written
warning by his employer in February 1989 regarding his job performance at the
creche.
The letter of warning was sent by the Christchurch City Council following
an approach to the authority by Davidson, the former,
creche manager.
The warning did not relate to any allegations or concerns of sexual abuse.
The witness, whose name and occupation were suppressed, said he recalled that
Ellis had been warned twice by the council over his work.
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