Letter to the Editor,
Mr Pat Booth
Suburban Newspapers Limited
Auckland, New Zealand

Let Right Be Done
by Gordon Waugh

Congratulations to Pat Booth for his insight into the Peter Ellis case (March 27). Concerns about Ellis' conviction will not abate until all the facts are made known. The Ministerial Inquiry did nothing to expose or examine those facts. Some will argue that the two "pre-eminent international experts" hired by the Inquiry have given reliable, expert advice on the testimony of the children, and that should be the end of the matter.

Ellis was not convicted on testable medical, forensic, physical or documentary evidence. The case turned on the assumptions, beliefs and opinions of self-appointed "experts" and their interpretation of the behaviour of young children.

Dr Louise Sas, plucked from obscurity in Canada, firmly believes in the use of "anatomically correct" dolls as an aid to excavating allegations from little children. She also supports the use of the later electro-mechanical robotic variant which uses "animatronics" for the same purpose. Her report to the Inquiry was an exercise in fantasy.

It is usual for these "experts" to say that a child's behaviour "was consistent with sexual abuse". That is a nonsense statement. No scientific evidence exists of a link between sexual abuse and any particular psychological condition or behavioural pattern.

The charges against the four female co-workers were dropped, but the evidence against them had the same source and absurd Satanic Ritual Abuse basis as that against Ellis. The charges should never have been laid. What would Police have done in the absence of a male to accuse ?

Dunedin author Lynley Hood will publish her book "A City Possessed" on the Ellis case in October. It will shed clear light on the case. Will Government then have the courage to hold a Royal Commission of Inquiry?

Let right be done.

Gordon Waugh
Whenuapai