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The
Evening Post
November 27, 1997
ACC eyes compo paid in Ellis case
by Georgina Bailey
ACC will monitor the Peter Ellis-Christchurch Civic Childcare Centre case and
seek to recover money paid to victims if any inquiry reveals they changed
their stories.
An ACC spokesman said it was too early to say if they would try to recover
compensation. "We will be watching any developments in relation to
that."
New Zealand First MP Ron Mark has said parents of children who testified
against Ellis in the case had collectively received lump-sum compensation of
more than $300,000.
Other reports suggest more than $500,000 was paid out. It is believed some
families received up to $60,000.
The payments were made to parents under the old lump-sum payout system where
$10,000 was automatically paid to someone claiming they had been sexually
abused.
In some cases where Ellis faced multiple charges in relation to one child,
claims were made for each alleged incident of abuse. ACC didn't require a
conviction before paying out.
ACC could not confirm how much had been paid out to Ellis victims, as they
did not keep information about who the abuser was, only the victims.
Mr Mark said most of the children whose families had been paid compensation
had later retracted their stories of sexual abuse by Ellis, but the money was
not paid back.
Christchurch Police would not comment on whether victims had retracted their
stories, saying they would not debate in public matters that had been dealt
with by the courts.
The case has been in the spotlight following a 20/20 television programme
citing irregularities in the Ellis case.
It was alleged some of the complainant children had now said Ellis did not
abuse them, but their statements were being treated as a symptom of denial -
a psychological term meaning the event happened but the victim refuses to
accept it.
Ellis was found guilty of 16 out of 25 charges of abusing children at the
Christchurch Civic Childcare Centre between 1986 and 1992.
He has served four years of a 10-year jail sentence.
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