The Christchurch Civic Creche Case
	News Reports
	2001 Jan-June
	One News Mar 13, 2001 No pardon for Peter Ellis Convicted child molester Peter Ellis will not be getting a pardon from the Governor General. A year-long ministerial inquiry has found the former Christchurch creche worker did get a fair trial. It concludes: * Police and social workers followed best practice during the investigation. * The evidence from the child complainants was reliable. * The convictions were sound. The inquiry report comes as Christchurch police investigate another complaint against Ellis. One News has been told it is a new disclosure, but a historical one dating back to the time of the original complaints against Ellis. The complainant is a Christchurch man now aged about 18. Meanwhile, a dejected Ellis said he was not going to walk away and make it easier for people. But as far as the Government is concerned justice has been done in the Civic Creche case. The minister who ordered the inquiry is content to now let the matter rest. "I believe Ellis' case has had the most thorough evaluation possible," Justice Minister Phil Goff said. Former chief justice Sir Thomas Eichelbaum spent over 400 hours studying tapes and transcripts and in his report says that the case advanced on behalf of Ellis fails to satisfy the inquiry that the convictions were unsafe. He said the case failed by a distinct margin and it was not a borderline judgement. The agencies involved in bringing the prosecution now feel vindicated. The police said they felt they had acted professionally in the case and the report clearly states that. And social welfare is pleased that two international experts have supported the view that their work was of good quality. Those experts told the inquiry that while there was some contamination of the case by the over-involvement of parents and their sharing of information they did not feel the evidence was affected or unreliable as a result. But Ellis and his counsel Judith Ablett-Kerr are vowing to fight on. Ablett-Kerr says the inquiry was too narrow and that her concern has been backed up by a British expert consulted in the inquiry. She says Professor Graeme Davies indicated the inquiry needed to be broadened, and appeared to be under the impression a wider inquiry was happening. And a former co-worker of Ellis, Gaye Davidson, says she does not believe the inquiry looked at all the evidence and is hopeful a book on Ellis' case, expected to be released in the next few months, will shed more light on the matter.