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Convicted paedophile Peter Ellis
may have appeared before the parole board yesterday, but he did not speak,
his mother says. Lesley Ellis said that Ellis, who
is serving a 10-year sentence after being convicted of abusing children at "He felt that he owed that
much respect to the board, to explain his position," Mrs Ellis said. Ellis' lawyer, Judith Ablett-Kerr,
answered questions for him during the 30-minute hearing. Afterwards, she released details
of Ellis' written statement. "I cannot accept any parole that
you could offer me because the board could only release me as a guilty
man," he said. "I'm not a guilty man, I am
an innocent man." He did not attend a parole board
hearing last year on grounds that to accept any conditions on parole could be
seen as an admission of guilt. Mrs Ellis said she fully supported
her son's stand both this year and last, even if it meant he served another
year in jail. "You have to keep fighting,
you just have to," she said. "It's not only him - he is
the front of this case but behind him are an enormous number of other people
who have been equally hurt but just didn't finish up in jail, like he did. "All of the women from the
creche and their families, then you've got all of the children - some of them
may have been damaged for the rest of their lives. "We all know what can happen
to children that have been abused, but surely the same thing happens to those
who are convinced that they have been abused." The parole board could release
Ellis without his consent, and a decision was expected in about a week. Ellis has twice been refused bail
pending a an His first appeal was dismissed in
1994, but he gained a rare second appeal after the petition. Former High Court judge Sir Thomas
Thorpe has been asked to investigate the petition on behalf of the Ministry
of Justice. He is a former head of the Parole Board. Investigation results will go to
the Governor-General. |
