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Sunday
Star Times
August 17 2003
Peter Ellis' appeal to Privy Council could be abandoned
by Donna Chisholm
The Peter Ellis case may not now go to the Privy
Council as supporters fear Justice Minister Phil Goff will use further legal
proceedings as an excuse to shelve a petition seeking a commission of
inquiry.
The Sunday Star-Times understands Ellis has discussed the prospect of halting
the Privy Council bid with his counsel Judith Ablett-Kerr, QC, in favour of
the select committee due to start considering the call for an inquiry this
week.
Ablett-Kerr is believed to have met petition organisers, National Party MPs
Don Brash and Katherine Rich, on Thursday to discuss whether a court case in London could derail the
building momentum at home. Rich said while she was not a lawyer, she believed
a royal commission was the best place to deal with the issues which were not
strictly points of law.
The move comes as two child complainants in the Christchurch Civic Creche
case - now aged 17 - broke their silence to repeat allegations Ellis molested
them. They said they still believed they were victims of ritual satanic
abuse.
In 1993, the evidence of the boy and girl was critical to the Ellis
prosecution. Ellis was found guilty of 16 of 25 charges - three related to
one of the children and four to the other.
They spoke out in response to the "toddler testimonies" -
transcripts of their interviews with Child, Youth and Family staff - which
were printed in an advertisement in the Sunday Star-Times paid for by
millionaire publisher Barry Colman.
Lynley Hood, author of A City Possessed, which concluded Ellis was the victim
of a witch hunt and mass hysteria fuelled by the "sex abuse
industry", said the two children were the most manipulated of all by
parents, therapists and interviewers.
"Nobody has ever called the creche children liars," she said.
"The pressure shows in the interview transcripts, in the notes parents
made of their conversations with the children, in the statements parents made
to the police and to the court.
"The techniques used are known to induce false memories. Consequently,
while their alleged memories may exist, they are anything but reliable."
She said it disgusted her that the sex abuse industry was again "hiding
behind the children" as it had been doing from the outset of the case.
"The people who should be fronting up to answer for what was done to
those kids are the interviewers and therapists."
Hood said while she could not confirm the outcome of discussions over the
Privy Council case, it would have given Goff an opportunity to do nothing
about the petition.
More than 140 high-profile New Zealanders, including a retired judge and
several Queen's Counsel, signed the petition which was presented to
parliament last month. Another petition circulating since has gained more
than 3000 signatures.
Ellis declined to comment on the Privy Council case or the children's stories
published yesterday. Ablett-Kerr could not be contacted.
Meanwhile, the evidence of a psychiatrist criticised in Hood's book for her testimony
in the Ellis case has been responsible for sex convictions being overturned
in a second case.
Psychiatrist Karen Zelas gave expert evidence in the case of three children
allegedly abused. Said the Court of Appeal decision: "It is of course
essential for any expert witness to be entirely fair and objective and to
avoid the fact or appearance of being an advocate for one side or the other.
We regret to say we have reservations about aspects of Dr Zelas' evidence on
this account."
The judges were concerned Zelas was prepared to say there had been no known
prior sexual abuse - a matter outside the scope of permissible expert
opinion. The comment had been disputed in a brief of evidence and was meant
to be deleted.
But Zelas departed from her brief to make the remark gratuitously, the judges
said.
They said other comments suggested "a pervasive quality of justification
for potentially challengable aspects of the girls' evidence".
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