Otago Daily Times
July 26 2003

Sex abuse
Letter to the Editor
by Suzanne George (Dunedin)

I see Mel Tapp (12.7.03) is once again expressing his nonsense about the Peter Ellis case in your columns. One only has to look at the notable people who have lent their name to "that petition" to realise that there is a distinct effort to suppress the truth which is seen as necessary to preserving order. I do not take orders from men who attempt to assert their patriarchal authority at the expense of truth.

I feel amazed Mr Tapp brought up that old kernel of the denial of the alleged child sex rings in Dunedin and Christchurch. Their existence has long been established. But the denial has led to the mass hysteria we are presently witnessing. Former Australian Governor-General Dr Peter Hollingworth was recently forced to resign due to public pressure regarding his mishandling of child sex complaints during his tenure as Archbishop of Brisbane. Those child sex abuse deniers who "cut their cloth to suit their argument" should be aware that they, too, are publicly accountable.