|
The
Press
August 20, 2003
Ellis case teen says Hood is 'just so wrong'
by Matt Conway
A child
complainant in the Christchurch Civic Creche sex abuse case is angry about
criticism sparked by his first media interview.
Tom (not his real name) says Dunedin
author Lynley Hood is "just so wrong" in her belief that former
creche worker Peter Ellis was an innocent man wrongly convicted.
In The Press last Saturday, Tom and another complainant, Katrina (also a
false name), reaffirmed the guilt of former creche worker Peter Ellis.
A decade ago their evidence led to Ellis being convicted of 16 abuse charges,
three relating to Tom and four to Katrina.
Now 17, the pair said that despite ongoing debate about the case, they still
firmly believed they were abused by Ellis.
"I remember lots of it vividly," said Tom, who was nearly three
when he began attending the creche. "I stand by everything I said when I
was little. I didn't make anything up."
Ms Hood, campaigning to overturn the Ellis convictions, said it was
"scandalous" that child complainants felt compelled to speak out
while the professionals involved in the case stayed silent.
"It's not the kids who should be fronting up and trying to defend what
happened. It's the interviewers, the therapists, the police, and the prosecutors
who should have known better. It's absolutely outrageous."
In A City Possessed, Ms Hood argues
that memories of abuse the children might genuinely believe to be true had
been induced by manipulative interviewing techniques.
Yesterday Tom hit back. In a statement sent to The Press he said: "I am
totally clear in remembering the abuse .... I wasn't manipulated, you just
don't imagine that sort of stuff. How would Lynley Hood know what happened to
me – she wasn't there, I was."
Tom's father said Ms Hood's comments were "a little bit below the
belt".
"Our children find it upsetting when their integrity is called into
question. They're now not afraid to speak up and say their piece and we
support them in that."
Ms Hood is one of 140 high-profile New Zealanders to petition Parliament for
a Royal Commission of Inquiry.
The justice and electoral select committee will next month begin weighing
that call, ahead of making a recommendation to Cabinet.
|
