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Heather Roy's Diary
October 31, 2003
by Heather Roy, M.P. ACT Party
Christchurch Civic Crèche
Case
Don Brash’s leadership will provide newspaper headlines for a long time but
I’m going to comment on an area that he has been outspoken on recently – the
Christchurch Civic crèche case. For those who are unfamiliar with the case it
centres on Peter Ellis who served a long prison sentence for sexually abusing
children when he worked at the Civic crèche. The case against him has been
repeatedly attacked, most recently by Lynley Hood in her book A City
Possessed. Ms Hood makes an intellectually powerful argument that the
worldwide campaign against sexual abuse in the context of a ritual worship of
Satan was a myth. In the book she likens the campaign against satanic sexual
abuse to a witch-hunt. She demonstrates that no case has ever been proven
although many accused have spent long years in prison before having their
names cleared. People working with small children have been particularly
vulnerable and accusations have been flung far and wide against women as well
as men. Girls as young as 16 and women as old as 70 have had to counter
denunciations of sexual involvement with young children as part of a black
mass.
Peter Ellis, in the end, was convicted of sexual abuse while the wildly
fantastic accusations of satanic abuse were withdrawn. At the height of the
inquiry all the hallmarks of mass hysteria were evident. Several female
co-workers were also charged although the charges were dropped. Lynley Hood
contends that the level of hysteria was so high that all the charges against
Ellis are suspect.
Don Brash, along with many others, has argued the case for a public inquiry.
ACC
The Peter Ellis case should act as a warning in other areas such as sexual
abuse claims to ACC. Earlier this year ACC announced the reinstatement of
lump sum payments to those making ‘sensitive claims’ – claims relating to
sexual abuse. This, combined with the fact it is not necessary to prove
sexual abuse or name the abuser means the incentive to make a false claim has
increased significantly and it is not surprising that there has been a
proliferation of claims. At the moment accusations are taken at face value
and large sums of money are handed over.
Last week ACC Minister Ruth Dyson confirmed that claimants who ‘discover’
they have not been abused after all may not have to pay back the taxpayer
funded compensation they have already received. Lynley Hood's book A City
Possessed clearly outlines the case of a girl who admitted claiming sexual
abuse to get attention. She was strongly encouraged in her claim for
compensation by a psychologist and only began being harassed by the
psychology profession when she started to tell the truth. Sexual abuse cases
must be thoroughly investigated before payments are made to prevent such
situations from arising.
There is another problem. Real cases with victims suffering the horrific
consequences may not be taken as seriously as they should be. Where treatment
and compassion are required instead an environment of distrust is created.
This is one in a string of examples where the truly vulnerable are
indistinguishable from those taking advantage of welfare created for the
genuinely needy.
Genuine sexual abuse ruins lives but false, unsubstantiated claims ruin the
lives of innocent people who never recover from them.
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