|
|
The |
|
Justice Minister Phil Goff has
received the report of the ministerial inquiry into the Peter Ellis case. Mr Goff confirmed yesterday that
he had seen the report which would be circulated to interested parties before
it was made public next week. Retired chief justice Sir Thomas Eichelbaum had
been due to report last August but the time was extended to February. Debate has raged over the case
since Ellis's conviction in 1993 on 13 charges of sexually abusing children
in his care at the Christchurch Civic Crèche. Ellis, 41, spent 6<> years
in prison but maintained his innocence throughout and refused early parole
because it would have required that he admit guilt. He was freed in February
last year. Mr Goff announced the ministerial
inquiry the following month. Sir Thomas was asked to look into
the matters that the Court of Appeal indicated it could not appropriately consider,
in particular to identify current best practice for investigating mass
allegation sexual abuse cases and to determine whether those practices were
followed in the Ellis case. Sir Thomas is investigating
whether the way the evidence was gathered against Ellis was sound and, if not, whether the breaches were so serious that a pardon
was warranted. |
