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NZ
Herald
April 1 1999
Potter case brings law change call
by Catherine Masters
The
release of unrepentant child sex abuser Bert Potter into a community where
children and other convicted paedophiles live has
led to calls for a law change.
Experts who treat sexual abusers say children at Centrepoint
in Albany are
not safe.
They say Parole Board conditions of supervision, which Potter must live by
for two years, should last his lifetime or for as long as his thinking
remained so distorted.
Offenders such as Potter have no concept of the damage they did, says Lesley Afamasaga, who manages the adult programme
Safe, an Auckland
treatment network for sex abusers.
"His distortions are clear and present. He's not even ashamed to share
that with people," she said, referring to media interviews with Potter
since his release on Tuesday.
Potter placed responsibility for the offending with the outside world, failed
to show any empathy with his victims and failed to accept that he did any
direct harm to them, said Lesley Afamasaga.
Potter said on Tuesday that sex between adults and underage girls could be
"a very healthy thing."
When offenders such as Potter were released into the community it was
essential they were surrounded by well-informed adults who were aware of relapse
prevention techniques, Lesley Afamasaga said.
But while a faction of adults at Centrepoint oppose
Potter's teachings, a small core still support him.
Dave Mendelssohn, also convicted of child sex abuse, said on the day of
Potter's release: "This whole sexual thing and the harm is only 20 years
old ... if it was really so harmful it would have surfaced long before
now."
Lesley Afamasaga said most offenders with cognitive
distortions - or faulty thinking - had a high rate of reoffending.
Mauri Pacific MP Tau Henare yesterday attacked the Parole Board for double
standards by allowing Potter back to Centrepoint
but refusing parole to Christchurch
creche convicted abuser Peter Ellis because he had
not acknowledged or addressed his offending.
"The Parole Board has released a monster, while incarcerating a man
whose innocence is a matter of conjecture."
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