Otago Daily Times
October 8, 2001

'Ellis case similar to US trial'

Christchurch: A woman, who headed legal teams that successfully appealed against convictions in a US child sex abuse case, says it seems to have striking similarities with the Christchurch Civic Creche case.

University of Washington criminal law clinic director Jackie McMurtrie said repetitive interviewing of children, interviewers predisposed to finding abuse, and allegations "growing from something relatively minor" were among the similarities.

The US case, in Wenatchee, Washington, led to more than 60 adults being arrested on 29,726 charges of sex abuse involving 43 children.

However, 13 of those adults imprisoned were freed after being represented by legal teams from the Innocence Project Northwest (IPNW).

Ms McMurtrie co-founded the non-profit IPNW, comprising volunteer law professors, students, and lawyers, in 1997.

She spoke about her experiences at the international law conference in Christchurch last week.

After addressing a near full auditorium, including Judith Ablett Kerr QC, counsel for convicted Christchurch creche child abuser Peter Ellis, Ms McMurtrie said she had read about the Christchurch case before arriving.

"It's the type of case we would look at where someone maintains his innocence throughout the process and it's a difficult case because you can never go back to prove the negative," Ms McMurtrie said.

Ellis would never be able to prove he was innocent because something conclusive like a DNA test could not be done, she said.

Other similarities between the cases included the bizarre nature of some allegations and the reaction of the community, she said.

Ellis served six and a-half years of a 10-year jail sentence imposed for 13 convictions of abusing children in his care. He has always maintained his innocence. - NZPA