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Last updated March 19 2005
1996-1127 - Dominion - A
legal system on trial
How
much less satisfactory our system is can be seen from recent cases. Convicted
of 16 counts of molesting children, former Christchurch Civic Centre crèche
worker Peter Ellis is going to the Privy Council to argue that the jury did
not see key evidence
1996-0930
- The Press - Skeptics, candidate back calls for crèche inquiry
by
Vivienne Oakley - A call for a full parliamentary inquiry into the handling
of the Christchurch Civic crèche investigation has been backed by Alliance
candidate Rod Donald and the New Zealand Skeptics. Mr Donald, who is
contesting the Banks Peninsula electorate this election, had a daughter at
the crèche until just before it was closed.
1996-0930 -
Dominion - Skeptics give to Ellis defence fund
The
New Zealand Skeptics have given $2500 to the defence trust set up on behalf
of convicted crèche worker Peter Ellis. The decision to award the money was
made by unanimous vote at the annual meeting of the Skeptics in Hamilton.
"The conviction and continued incarceration of Peter Ellis is very
disturbing," treasurer Bernard Howard said. "The Ellis saga bears
all the hallmarks of childcare sex-abuse witch-hunts witnessed in the United
States in the late 1980s.
1996-0929 -
Sunday Star Times - Pledge on crèche inquiry
by
Yvonne Martin - Alliance Banks Peninsula candidate Rod Donald will push for
an investigation into the Christchurch civic crèche sex abuse case if he is
elected to Parliament. Mr Donald says he is in a better position than most to
call for an inquiry because his daughter attended the crèche until just
before it was closed. He wants an investigation to examine the way children
were interviewed by psychiatrists which led to child abuse and sex charges
being laid against five crèche workers.
1996-0927 - The
Press - Court slashes award to crèche staff
by
Sinead Ohanlon - Former Christchurch Civic Childcare Centre workers were
struck a blow yesterday by a Court of Appeal decision that drastically
reduced the $1 million damages awarded them in the Employment Court. The
total damages were reduced to $172,978 after the Christchurch City Council
appealed against the decision made by the Employment Court last year.
1996-0903 - NZ Herald -
Hysteria recalls Salem trials
by
Neil Sands - A new book examines the satanic abuse phenomenon. Controversy
has raged over "recovered memory" in cases of sexual abuse. Neil
Sands finds that a book published yesterday in Australia will fuel further
debate. In his book Talk of the Devil,
Richard Guilliatt, a Sydney Morning Herald journalist, outlines how dozens,
perhaps hundreds, of parents and childcare workers have been accused of
satanic abuse of children.
1996-0903 - NZ Herald -
Counsellors abuse training full of nonsense
by Greg Newbold and Gordon Waugh -
·
The country's only Government-funded centres
for training sexual abuse counsellors uses material that may be unscientific;
·
Study texts talk of satanic practices and
promote belief in "repressed memory" which can be
"recovered" under therapy.;
·
North American authorities warn against
recovered memory therapy;
·
The course regards some very common behaviour
as “indicators” of sexual abuse. It encourages allegations to be accepted
uncritically.;
·
The course has been approved by the New
Zealand Qualifications Authority;
·
The public has a right to expect that anyone
working in the area of sexual abuse will have received training that is
scientifically sound.
1996-0826 -
Evening Post - Crèche claim decision reserved
Public
perceptions of sexual abuse were created when Christchurch City Council
allowed the civic crèche to be closed and employees initially made redundant,
counsel for the employees told the Court of Appeal on Friday.
1996-0823 -
Dominion - Crèche award based on note, court told
Chief
Employment Court judge Tom Goddard had decided Christchurch Civic Crèche
staff were unjustifiably dismissed because their employer did not give them
the backing they were entitled to, lawyer Hans van Schreven said yesterday.
He was arguing in the Court of Appeal against a Christchurch City Council
claim that the Employment Court award of $863,763 to the 13 staff was too
high.
1996-0822 -
Evening Post - Council appeals crèche decision
Christchurch
City Council did not make the decision to close the civic crèche after
allegations of child abuse, the Court of Appeal heard yesterday. The council
was appealing a series of decisions by the Employment Court that Gaye
Davidson and others were unjustifiably dismissed from the crèche
1996-0818
- Sunday Star Times - Council appeals against $1m payout
A
city council's appeal against a $1 million compensation payout awarded to
workers sacked from a civic crèche starts on Wednesday. The Appeal Court
hearing is expected to last two days
1996-0811 - Sunday
Star Times - Madness in Ellis case
Letter
to the Editor by G Waugh - Unlike S. Lelievre I applaud your editorial stance
on the Peter Ellis case. The "madness" he asks about permeates our
society. A reasoned view of the Ellis case suggests that had the jury been
exposed to the full range of evidence, progression of the children's stories from
ordinary events to impossible, excruciating torture, would have been obvious
1996-0804 - Sunday Star
Times - Mockery of God
Letter
to the Editor by Scott LeLievre - you compare the trial of Peter Ellis with
the witch trials of the 17th century and note that the detective inspector in
charge of the case appeared on television declaring society was reaping the
fruits of mocking God and the likes of John Banks. This is a standard liberal
tactic: Label your opponent as a religious extremist and hope to undermine
their credibility
1996-0730 -
Usenet - Peter Ellis - Christchurch Civic Crèche
by David McLoughlin, Eade talks of “secret evidence”
1996-0727 -
The Press - Trust backs bid to reopen Ellis case
A
Christchurch trust has been formed to collect funds to fight for the
reopening of the case of convicted childcare worker Peter Ellis. The trust is
backed by seven trustees, including Christchurch solicitor Ben Frampton and
University of Canterbury academics Denis Dutton, David Novitz, Chris
Connolly, and Barry Kirkwood. In the last few weeks new life has been injected
into efforts to have the case reviewed. Dunedin Queen's Counsel Judith
Ablett-Kerr yesterday confirmed her involvement, and an article on the case
was published in ``North and South'' magazine
1996-0722 - The Press -
reviews Ellis case
A
Dunedin Queen's Counsel is reviewing the Christchurch Civic Childcare Centre
case for ways the case against Peter Ellis can be reopened. Ellis, a former
worker at the crèche, is three years into a 10-year jail sentence imposed for
sexually abusing children in his care at the crèche
1996-0721 -
Sunday Star Times - Haden praised for courage
Letter
to the Editor by C S Harison - Congratulations on voicing so clearly what I
am sure most normal citizens feel about both subjects raised -- the supposed
recent heresy of Justice Morris, and the disgraceful Peter Ellis affair.
1996-0721
- Sunday Star Times - A convict at all costs mentality
Worryingly,
this is not the only case in recent times to throw into question the fairness
of our justice system. The conviction of Peter Ellis in the Christchurch
Civic Crèche case is another. There was a hysteria surrounding this
prosecution akin to the witch trials of 17th century Salem. We had the
detective inspector in charge of the case appearing on television and
declaring the Civic Sodom was evidence society was reaping the fruits of mocking
the likes of John Banks and God. The police, the judge, the prosecution all
got caught up in a madness that has still to be undone. Justice is not served
when the hunt for a guilty verdict overwhelms the commonsense and sense of
fairness we expect from our police and prosecutors.
1996-0721 - Sunday
News - Stand up and be counted
This
is an open challenge to our politicians and lawyers. Read David McLoughlin's
article "Second Thoughts on the Christchurch Civic Crèche Case" in
the latest North And South and then do the right thing. Many of you have
privately expressed concern at the way our judicial system handles sexual
abuse cases. Many have privately indicated considerable unease about the
guilty verdict in the Peter Ellis case. None of you had the courage to stand
up and be counted. It's time you did.
1996-0715
- The Press - Writer says crèche worker should be freed
by
Martin Van Beynen - An Auckland journalist who has spent 18 months
investigating the Christchurch Civic Childcare Centre case says convicted
crèche worker Peter Ellis should be released and an independent inquiry
started. David McLoughlin, a writer for ``North and South'' magazine, said
yesterday he had serious qualms about Ellis's guilt, and was convinced about
the innocence of the four women crèche workers charged with sexual offending
against crèche children.
1996-0715
- North And South - Second Thoughts on the Crèche Case
August
1996, Cover Story, Pages 54 – 69
Second Thoughts on the Christchurch Civic Crèche Case :
Has Justice failed Peter Ellis? by
David McLoughlin
1996-0714
- Sunday Star Times - Women know they must say no, no matter what
by Frank Haden - An exhaustive new investigation into the mistakes that led to Peter
Ellis being imprisoned for crimes he could not have committed, in the
infamous crèche sex abuse trial, is due to hit the streets in Christchurch,
accompanied by expensive publicity, within days. It is expected to lead to
the setting up of a Peter Ellis Trust, and a Privy Council appeal against the
Appeal Court's inexplicable refusal to overturn the trial jury's manifestly
wrong verdict. The continued incarceration of Ellis ranks with the greatest
miscarriages of justice ever perpetrated.
1996-0627
- The Press - Book of sex offenders in Christchurch soon
It
has many Christchurch entries, including one for Peter Ellis, the childcare
worker convicted of sexually abusing children in his care at the Christchurch
Civic Childcare Centre. “This case continues to provoke considerable debate
in New Zealand,'' the entry says. “Ellis maintains his innocence and there
are many in the community who agree,'' it says.
1996-0627 - Evening
Post - Sex offenders book out
Included
are high profile convictions, such as Christchurch Civic Crèche worker Peter
Ellis
1996-0612 - Waikato
Times - Perils of prejudice
Letter
to the Editor by Russell McLachlan - When a paradigm of prejudice is
established God help those who suffer its consequences. .......What hope was
there for Peter Ellis, a pre-school carer and a homosexual, when he entered
the courtroom in Christchurch? Did he believe he would get a fair trial?
Maybe he did and maybe he was naive enough to believe a jury of New
Zealanders would leave their prejudices at the courthouse door and collect
them on leaving.
1996-0415
- Dominion - Convicted molester criticises lawyers
Convicted
child molester Peter Ellis has had complaints that lawyers made him
"lose the plot" in his trial published in a New Zealand Law Society
newsletter.
1996-0411 - The Bar Tender -
Blonde Horses and Horse Hair Wigs
by Peter Ellis - 1992 and 1993 were to be funny years, not funny ha ha, just funny
peculiar. I was to see masses of horse hair without being anywhere near a
race track, and enough blank cloth to cover a Muslim community from head to
toe, with yards to spare for the odd funeral or two………… It is now 1996 and I
no longer concern myself with blonde horses and horse hair wigs, one tends
not to in jail. I am now trying to understand law and its finer points,
perhaps something I should have been doing during 1993. However quite frankly
I don't think it was my job then and I don’t think it should be my job now.
Isn't that what we have lawyers for and didn't they study law to become
lawyers to see justice is done... Didn’t they???
1996-0222
- Evening Post - Judge praised for fairness, humanity
Neil
William Williamson, High Court Justice: b Christchurch, Dec 9, 1938; d
Christchurch, Feb 14, 1996..... He was appointed a High Court judge in 1985
and presided over a number of high-profile court cases including the
Christchurch civic crèche indecencies trial of Peter Ellis
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