National Business Review
July 24 2003
NZ publisher to expose suppressed evidence in sex abuse case
National Business Review publisher
Barry Colman plans to expose suppressed children's testimony from the
Christchurch Civic Crèche sex abuse case in Sunday newspaper advertisements.
Mr Colman said Wednesday he obtained
the testimonials as a result of publicity surrounding a $100,000 reward for
fresh information on the case. The evidence will be published full page
advertisements on August 3.
The transcripts would reveal
testimony taken from the children at the crèche and never given to the jury
that convicted crèche worker Peter Ellis to a 10-year prison sentence in 1993,
Mr Colman said.
Mr Ellis served six and half years
of his sentence and was released in 2000.
Mr Colman would not say how he obtained
the transcripts, but said there had been no claim for the reward.
"The children's testimony will
expose how pathetic, flimsy, and one-sided the evidence against Ellis was, and
how the information was obtained by those questioning the children," he
said.
"The public will be able to
judge for the first time for themselves the quality of
the testimony."
While the names of the children had
been suppressed during the trial the transcript evidence had not been, Mr
Colman said.
"One of the transcripts we will
be publishing will be that of the child who helped trigger all the claims that
ritual satanic abuse had been practised at the
Christchurch Civic Crèche," he said.
"After the public have had a
chance to see this withheld testimony for themselves
I'm sure there will be fresh calls for a royal commission of inquiry into the
Peter Ellis affair."
The $100,000 reward for information
was offered by Mr Colman after Justice Minister Phil Goff announced he would
need new evidence before he would consider a royal commission of inquiry into
the case.
The deadline to claim the $100,000
for providing fresh evidence leading to a royal inquiry ends today.
The pledge resulted in more than a
dozen calls from the public with information but follow-up investigations
failed to prove the more sensational claims that were provided.
"I now intend to put some of
the money into a fighting fund which will help finance the publishing of the
children's evidence," Mr Colman said.
The callers included people who
wanted to discuss aspects of the case because they wanted to "clear their
consciences" and "get things off my chest."
"There is clearly a huge amount
of unease about Ellis' conviction and the witchhunt
that went on before and during the case," he said.
Last month a petition of l40 high
profile New Zealanders was presented to Mr Goff seeking the inquiry because of
the belief there had been a serious miscarriage of justice in the Ellis case.
A second petition now contains a
further 780 names. Time for signatures ends on July 31 and it will be presented
to Mr Goff early next month.
Mr Colman's statement has been run
as a lead story in The Press,
Ellis also chose not to comment on
Mr Colman's plans when contacted by The Press yesterday.