Sunday Star Times
October 7, 2001
Letters to the Editor
Ellis
and an abuse of justice
by Peter Parkinson, North Shore
What a superb
review of Lynley Hood's book A City
Possessed by Donna Chisholm (September 30). The unspoken fears of men in
general and fathers in particular at last laid bare in open defiance of the sex
abuse industry of the last decade.
Of course the interviewers, counsellors and psychologists have manipulated,
tricked and coerced countless children into providing fodder for the insane
ideological "all fathers are abusers" routine. This, after all, is
what the industry is all about - finding abuse.
Social historians of the future will look back to this current period of our
social evolution and shake their heads with utter disbelief and sadness that
such a monumental myth was created and foisted on the citizenry largely by the
agenda-driven abuse industry.
A City Possessed should be compulsory reading for all the judiciary,
counsellors, psychologists and everyone else riding the gravy train of the
abuse industry. That we have got it so wrong for so long is beyond belief.
Maybe now we can count the cost, take stock and try to get it right.
Ellis Innocent
by Alex Love,
Thank-you Lynley
Hood. I've
always maintained that Peter Ellis, David Bain, Scott Watson and Arthur Allan
Thomas were innocent. But I'm just a person of common sense, like a lot of
normal people. Once more, thank you.
Justice
Denied
by Gordon Waugh,
Lynley Hood's new
book on the Peter Ellis case crystallises the problems underlying the sex abuse
industry.
Ellis and his co-workers were denied justice to save the reputations of people
predisposed to believe sexual abuse fantasies and conspiracies. A City
Possessed provides adequate reason to exonerate Ellis and return common sense
to a justice system misled by self-appointed experts.
Old
Coals
by Brian Hartley, Christchurch
While it is a
matter of conjecture as to whether or not raking over old coals is ever
worthwhile, one has to wonder if revisiting the past in this instance may be
decidedly more harmful than helpful given the controversy and highly-charged
emotion that has continued to surround those involved.
Hoodwinked?
by M Hallam,
Lynley Hood invokes
"and of course no inmate laid a finger on him in prison" as a
"pointer to Ellis' innocence".
Perhaps Hood is right that prison inmates are completely reliable judges of
their fellows' culpability. Regardless, the fact is that as a convicted sex
offender against children, Ellis was kept apart from other prison inmates in
maximum security or in the protection wing, specifically to prevent his being
assaulted.
I've heard of jumping to conclusions, but Hood's logical leaps are in the realm
of extreme sport.
Abuse
Epidemic
by Ken Clearwater, Christchurch
Lynley Hood's
claims that abuse is not epidemic and never has been has to be challenged. It
is known that one in four girls will be sexually abused in this country before
their 16th birthday. There are now figures coming through that the number of
boys is the same as girls.
It is also time we stopped blaming the feminist movement and looked at the
facts. Women have been trying to protect our children from sexual abuse for
years and it is time as a society we helped them. We must also accept that
females are sexually abusing children.
It is also important that people realise there are cases of ritual abuse in
this country. There should be an immediate inquiry into the sexual abuse of children
in