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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 publicly released next week. Retired chief justice Sir Thomas
Eichelbaum had been due to report last August but the time was extended to
February this year. Debate has raged over the case
since Ellis' conviction in 1993 on 13 charges of sexually abusing children at
the Christchurch Civic Childcare Centre. 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 released 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 evidence was gathered against Ellis was sound and, if not, whether the breaches were so serious that a pardon
was warranted. |