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The Press
December 3, 1992.
Mother defied police to ask about crèche
The mother of a complainant in the Christchurch
Civic Childcare Centre inquiry said she ignored police advice not to question
her son directly about alleged sexual abuse.
She told a preliminary hearing in the District Court yesterday that parents
had been warned not to question their children directly to avoid putting
ideas into their heads.
The woman, whose name is suppressed, said she found the advice "rather
odd", and opted to ask her son direct questions as she had always dealt
with him in a direct manner.
She was giving evidence at a hearing to determine whether five former creche
staff accused of sexually abusing children will be sent for trial.
Peter Hugh McGregor Ellis, aged 34, faces 45 indecency charges. The former
manager of the creche, Gaye Jocelyn Davidson, aged 39, Janice Virginia
Buckingham, aged 44, and Marie Keys, aged 44, each face four charges. Deborah
Janet Gillespie, aged 30, faces three charges.
Cross-examined by counsel for the four women, Mr Gerald Nation, the mother
said she had asked her son about once or twice a week between May and July if
he had anything to tell her about Ellis.
When she first asked if Ellis had touched his bottom or penis her son became
angry and refused to discuss the matter. He said Ellis was his friend and would
not do such a thing.
His toileting deteriorated and be began to suffer severe mood changes and was
non-compliant.
He did not want to bath any longer and insisted on showering. He refused to
allow anyone else to bathe him. His eating habits also changed.
She said his behavioural problems became acute in August after his second,
third and fourth interviews with the specialist services unit of the
Department of Social Welfare.
The mother said she had praised her son for being brave after every interview
and gave him lots of cuddles and general support
After returning home from an interview in early August her son had told her
he had more to tell.
He talked of one occasion where he said there were about 20 men in a big
circle dressed in black shirts and white ties and wearing cowboy hats. They
carried swords and sang "I'm a cowboy". Eight of them had guitars
and they skipped around in a circle.
The witness said her son had said Keys, Davidson and Buckingham were present
along with several children.
On another occasion he talked of Ellis putting people in ovens which were
steaming. He was taken out of an oven by Ellis who pretended to eat him.
The mother said her son had also talked of being put in a cage which was hung
from a hook in an upstairs room at the Cranmer Centre.
He also spoke of being locked in a trapdoor in the floor of the creche.
The boy took his mother to room 202 at the Cranmer Centre where he said he
had been made to kill animals and to stab a boy called Andrew who was in a
coffin.
The witness said her son had told her he had gone through the ceiling of room
202 and descended by rope into Davidson's office next door, where she was
working on a computer.
The hearing continues today.
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