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The Press
July 6, 1999
Case History
NZPA
Wellington - Allegations made by children against convicted pedophile Peter
Ellis became increasingly bizarre the more interviews they were subjected to,
the Court of Appeal in Wellington
has been told.
Opening her submissions for the appeal that began yesterday, counsel Judith
Ablett-Kerr, QC, gave examples of children being pressured by five or six
interviews.
And, at each, the stories had grown. In this way, by the fifth or sixth
interview, an allegation Ellis had shown a child his penis had grown to
children having had to strip and dance naked, or having been hung up in a
cage, Mrs Ablett-Kerr said.
But when it got to trial, such allegations, though outlined strongly at
depositions, had been substantially watered down by the Crown, making them
appear more reasonable to the jury, she said.
The jury had not been asked to find beyond reasonable doubt that children had
been strung up in a cage and had their private parts cut off, or that they
had needles inserted in them, Mrs Ablett-Kerr said.
The appeal, against Ellis's conviction in 1993 on 13 sexual abuse charges
against children at the Christchurch Civic Creche in 1993, argued miscarriage
of justice on six grounds.
These related to the techniques used to obtain evidence, the risks of
contamination of children's evidence, the retraction of children's evidence,
issues of trial procedure, issues to do with the jury, and the non-disclosure
of material to the defence.
Before an audience of Ellis's support network, including his mother, Lesley,
supporter Winston Wealleans, and Victoria
University ritual abuse
expert Mike Hill, Mrs Ablett-Kerr argued there had been a failure of the
system to recognise where child evidence should have been treated with
"caution". Expert advice suggested such caution "at the very
least" was essential in a case of mass allegation at a day care centre.
Not only had children's evidence been contaminated, but the jury had been
ill-equipped to give a fair and balanced judgment because it did not have all
the necessary information to hand and some jury members had a predisposition
to find him guilty, she said.
Mrs Ablett-Kerr spoke at length of "networking" that had occurred
among the mothers of creche children, starting soon after a child had told
his mother he "hated Peter's black penis".
That boy had subsequently made no disclosures and played no part in the
trial, but meetings of "concern" were held by the mothers of creche
children and a support organisation was set up.
"The network I'm talking about has been like a spider's web," Mrs
Ablett-Kerr said. "I would put (that mother) at the heart of the
web."
The appeal, before Justices Thomas, Gault, Richardson, Henry and Tipping, is
proceeding.--NZPA
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Case History
December 1991: Ellis suspended from the Civic Childcare Centre after one
woman claimed her son had been sexually abused by him.
June 1993: Ellis found guilty of 16 out of 25 charges of abusing children in
his care. Sentenced to 10 years jail.
September 1994: Court of Appeal rejects Ellis's appeal although dismisses
three charges after a complainant says she lied.
March 1995: Employment Court
awards 13 creche workers nearly $1 million as compensation for their
dismissal.
June 1995: Government rejects call for an inquiry.
September 1996: Court of Appeal slashes Employment Court compensation to about
$170,000.
November 1997: 20/20 programme casts doubt on Ellis jurors and claims inquiry
head Colin Eade psychologically unwell.
December 1997: Lawyer Judith Ablett-Kerr QC files first petition to the
Governor-General seeking pardon for Ellis.
November 1998: Mrs Ablett-Kerr files second petition to the Governor-General
seeking pardon, a widening of the terms of appeal, and a Royal Commission of
Inquiry into the case.
March 1998: Parole for Ellis considered but rejected; Governor-General
declines pardon but sends case back to the Court of Appeal for further
consideration.
February 1999: Justice Thomas Thorp appointed to look into petition.
March 1999: Parole Board turns down Ellis for the second time.
May 1999: Governor-General decline pardon but grants request to widen terms
of appeal.
July 5 1999: Appeal hearing begins. Ellis now 41.
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