|
The Press
September 5, 2002
Ellis refuses to
co-operate with police
Police are getting little help from Peter Ellis as they
investigate another complaint against him.
A young Christchurch
man laid a formal complaint with police in January 2001, alleging he was
sexually abused by Ellis and others when he attended the Christchurch Civic
Childcare Centre.
Police have moved slowly on the complaint but in the last two months have
attempted to interview both Ellis and former crèche supervisor Gaye Davidson.
Ms Davidson has already declined police invitations to be interviewed and
Ellis followed yesterday by also publicly refusing to co-operate with police.
His lawyer, Judith Ablett-Kerr, said she had informed police Ellis would not
be talking to them voluntarily about any historic offending the police
"would appear to be currently investigating".
"Mr Ellis instructs me that he believes he has made it absolutely clear
over a number of years that he is innocent of any alleged sexual offending
against children.
"He co-operated fully with such inquiries in the 1990s but as a result
of his experiences, he has no confidence in the process," she said.
Ellis was, however, happy to answer questions in a forum such as a Royal
Commission of Inquiry.
Such an inquiry presented the best hope of bringing a final and just
resolution to the Christchurch Civic Crèche case, she said. The new inquiry
is headed by Detective David Joker.
In 1993 Ellis was convicted of 16 charges of abusing children at the crèche
and sentenced to 10 years' jail. He served two thirds of the sentence and was
released in 2000.
Ms Davidson and two other women crèche workers were charged with indecent
assault based on a complaint by a six-year-old boy who, in the fourth of five
Social Welfare interviews, alleged they had stood by while children were
ritually abused.
The charges were dismissed by the High Court in April 1993, just weeks before
Ellis went on trial.
|
