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This page last updated
March 19 2005
Cartoon, Garrick Tremain, October 20, 2003
2003-0729
- Dominion Post - MP may stand down from creche hearing
by David McLoughlin - ACT NZ list MP Stephen Franks is considering standing
aside from a parliamentary committee that will hear the Christchurch Civic
Creche case petition because he signed it.
2003-0728 - Otago Daily
Times - Sex abuse
by
Suzanne George - 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
2003-0727 - Newstalk ZB -
Minister awaits information
Justice
Minister waits to receive information which may spark reopening of Peter
Ellis case. The Justice Minister is waiting to receive information which may
spark the reopening of the Peter Ellis case. Supporters of the convicted
child molester claim they are on the verge of releasing details which prove
the jury did not hear all the information in the 1993 trial
2003-0726
- The Press - Civic Creche dad condemns Ellis campaign
by
Jarrod Booker - A Christchurch Civic Creche parent says he has "absolute
belief" in convicted paedophile Peter Ellis's guilt and condemns the
high-profile campaign to clear him. The man, whose daughter disclosed abuse,
but whose evidence was not used in court, has spoken out just as Auckland
publisher Barry Colman threatens to print transcripts of the children's
testimony in Sunday newspapers as part of his campaign to clear Ellis
2003-0726 - NZ Herald
- Creche parent blasts crusade
NZPA
- A Christchurch Civic Creche parent says ....people had rushed to make a
judgment about Ellis based on a "book and seeing something in the
media". He said his daughter, now at university, refused to talk or even
"think about" what happened at the Civic Creche. But he said the
trial was being brought up so often there was no avoiding it.
2003-0726 - Newstalk ZB - New
info on Peter Ellis case
Peter
Ellis supporters believe they are on the verge of a breakthrough- claim they
have new information. Supporters of
convicted child molester Peter Ellis believe they are on the verge of a
breakthrough. Ellis served six-and-a-half years for the offences, which he
has always denied.
2003-0725 -
Dominion Post - Miscarriage of justice
Letter
to the Editor by John Welch - I challenge any person of normal intelligence
to read Lynley Hood's book, A City
Possessed, and not realise at once that there has been a terrible
miscarriage of justice
2003-0725 -
Dominion Post - The right to a fair trial
Letter
to the Editor by Keith James - A
significant concern is that the jury did not hear all the evidence.
........disquiet about the methods by which that evidence was obtained.
......the principal child witness subsequently admitted that she had lied?
.... The issue ....... about the right of all citizens, including M Walker,
to a fair trial.
2003-0725 - NBR - Why
doesn’t Phill Goff act?
Anyone
who reads A city Possessed must wonder why the government is so reluctant to
act. After all, the episodes span the period of the Lange-Douglas Labour
government, the Bolger National government and a coalition or three. So no
particular party is to blame. Some
suggestions:
2003-0725 - NBR -
Changing times or changing gender
Ms
Hood reminds us that at the same time (1987) Dr Dianne Espie, of
Christchurch's Child Protection Team, was examining young children entering a
children's health camp for signs of sexual abuse. In 1988 she reported that
"of the more than 250 children who had passed through the camp the
previous year 117 had probably been sexually abused, one probably had not
been and the rest were in doubt"
2003-0725 -
NBR - ‘Wimmin’ of today move from sexual to eco abuse
by
Owen McShane - A City Possessed is the
title of Lynley Hood's book on the Christchurch Civic Creche case. Every New
Zealander should read it. You might think you have heard all you need to know
about the Peter Ellis case. However, only the last half of the book is
directly concerned with the trial. The first, and more interesting half,
provides a short history of witch-hunts in particular and hysteria in
general.
2003-0724
- Otago Daily Times - Colman will expose Peter Ellis evidence
by
Jane Smith - Barry Colman plans to publicly expose children's evidence from
the Christchurch Civic Creche sex abuse case. The evidence was never heard by
the jury and proved the case should have been "laughed out of
court", the National Business
Review publisher said yesterday. Following the publicity surrounding his
pledge of $100,000 for new evidence leading to a royal commission of inquiry
into the Peter Ellis case, Mr Colman had been given transcripts of original
interviews with the Christchurch children involved
2003-0724 -
Dominion Post - Concerns for the giraffe
Letter
to the Editor by Noel Ellis - My
concerns are for the giraffe the children remembered killing and eating, and
a boy called Roger who was killed.
Follow up comment
2003-0725
- Usenet - Concerns for the giraffe
by David McLoughlin - . Actually the boy who was killed was named
Andrew. He was killed with a knife in
a satanic ritual
2003-0724 -
The Press - Ellis case - Minister's blinkered attitude
Letter
to the Editor by N M Gillespie - The Minister's blinkered attitude is
deplorable and seems to border on desperation.
2003-0724 - The Press - Ellis
case - Larger picture
Letter
to the Editor by Teresa Bowdon - Is the Peter Ellis case part of a larger and
different picture over time than has been considered thus far?
2003-0724
- The Press - Publisher to expose children's testimony
by
Jarrod Booker - Publisher Barry Colman plans to publicly expose controversial
children's testimony from the Christchurch Civic Creche sex abuse case. Mr
Colman said yesterday he planned to publish transcripts of the testimonies,
which he obtained as a result of publicity surrounding a $100,000 reward for
fresh information on the case
2003-0724 – National Business
Review - 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.
2003-0723 - Newstalk ZB -
Evidence to be published
Campaigner
against conviction of Peter Ellis will publish evidence from children which
was never put to jury. A campaigner against the conviction of Peter Ellis for
child abuse is to publish transcripts of evidence from children that was
never put to the jury. Publisher Barry Colman says the transcripts have come
to light as a result of the publicity surrounding his $100,000 reward for new
evidence in the affair.
2003-0721
- Dominion Post - Peter Ellis and the Justice system in New Zealand
Letter
to the Editor by Mark Stead (not yet published) - Phil Goff, by refusing to
appoint a Royal Commission of Inquiry can no longer claim to have a justice
system the envy of the Western World
2003-0720 - Sunday
Star Times - Get the facts straight
Letter
to the Editor by Colleen Waugh - The process which convicted Ellis has major
systemic flaws. The "psychological evidence" produced by
"experts" was filtered, distorted and misused. Physical and medical
evidence was ignored or absent. The children involved have grown up wrongly
believing they were abused. The "experts" who gave them this burden
still practice.
2003-0720 - Sunday
Star Times - Issue is pro-justice
Letter
to the Editor by Bill Wright - I am sad that that Debbie Kean is sad about
the new Ellis initiative (July 13) but I think she misses the point. The
issue is not so much about Peter Ellis as about judicial procedures that are
flawed. The initiative is not anti-feminist or anti-religious but rather
pro-justice
2003-0719 - The Listener -
Reasonable doubts
Letter
to the Editor by Alison Hanham - The
way in which one boy evolved his increasingly bizarre tales under adult
pressure was revealed in 1997, when his mother published A Mother’s Story (Howling at the Moon Press, Auckland) under the
pseudonym Joy Bander
2003-0718
- NBR - Ellis affair intrigues curious northern briefs
by
Jock Anderson - It seems, according to
Our Man at the Bar, northern briefs are keen for insights into a bewildering
case that many believe could only have been conceived in the garden city, now
branded Salem of the South.
2003-0718 -
Dominion Post - Juries not always right
Letter
to the Editor by Jonathon Harper - I am surprised you recently featured the
comments of M Walker (Letters, July 14) about the Peter Ellis convictions. It
suggests that juries always get it right. The criminology textbook, Crime In
New Zealand by Dr Greg Newbold, says they have got it wrong several times,
and that our legal system is inadequate at fixing its own mistakes. He cites
the Ellis case as an example
2003-0715 -
Dominion Post - Jury believed the children
Letter
to the Editor by M Walker - Once again I am astounded by the arrogance of
those who advocate so strongly for the innocence of Peter Ellis.........
Those involved in public debate rely on the conclusions of others with
interest of their own and rarely, if ever, hear from the victims. The jury
heard from the children. The jury believed the children. The jury found Ellis
guilty
2003-0713 - Sunday
Star Times - Ellis not innocent
Letter
to the Editor by Debbie Kean - Ellis has had numerous appeals, inquiries and
the ministerial inquiry which is currently being denigrated by the very
people who called for it some time ago. Many people believe that Ellis can
never “prove his innocence” because he is not innocent
2003-0712 - The Listener
- Reasonable doubts
Letter
to the Editor by Jonathon Harper -
Justice Minister Phil Goff does not seem to appreciate that previous
convictions in New Zealand have been overturned on appeal in New Zealand
without the appearance of any new evidence
2003-0712
- The Press - Male teachers suffer legacy of radical feminism
Letter
to the Editor by Malcolm Long - Until there is a commission of inquiry to
correct the law relating to evidence in child sexual abuse trials and to set
aside the travesty of justice that has been the fate of Peter Ellis, any
person, particular a male, thinking of entering education, or just remaining
within the profession, takes an extraordinary risk. Phil Goff needs to look
beyond the reassurance of the inadequately narrow Eichelbaum Report to the real
issue confidence in the justice system itself.
2003-0712 - Otago Daily
Times - Peter Ellis
Letter
to the Editor by Mel Tapp - I was amazed to see Ms George bring up the old
bogey of the alleged sex rings operating in Dunedin and Christchurch. They
have been long discredited. But they led to the mass hysteria that in turn
led to the Christchurch creche case. I note she never mentions the fact that
three women were also charged in this case and were rightly found innocent
and compensated
2003-0712 - Dominion
Post - Need for impartiality
Letter
to the Editor by Martin Bond - What about... the legal fiasco of the Peter
Ellis case in which Sir Thomas played a part? This case alone indicates the
need to have an impartial and ultimate appeal court beyond the apparently
closed loop of our own system.
2003-0711 - Otago Daily
Times - Peter Ellis
Letter
to the Editor by R E Mawson - In their zealous determination to prove their
own corrupt theories of child abuse, the authorities involved themselves
abused these poor children and their families - abuse which was
psychological, rather than sexual, but still abuse
2003-0710
- Otago Daily Times - Enterprising MP given chance to shine
by
Dene MacKenzie - In combining with Mrs Rich to petition for a pardon for
convicted paedophile Peter Ellis, Dr Brash is showing he has a more human
side than previously displayed as a central banker
2003-0707 - Waikato
Times - Flawed Practices
Letter to the Editor by Brian Robinson - I am even more convinced
of the urgent necessity for an inquiry into the creche case. I have no
confidence that the flawed practices that resulted in a grave injustice to
Peter Ellis have been discarded
2003-0707 - NZ
Herald - Letter to the Editor - Wilkinson
by Alan Wilkinson - There was no supporting evidence. Ellis was
convicted solely on the accusations and the full context in which they were
made was concealed from the jury. Until justice is finally done to Ellis the
judicial system will rightly be held in disrepute
2003-0707 - NZ Herald -
Letter to the Editor - Read
by John Read - As an abuse survivor I would be more sympathetic to this obviously
well-intentioned campaign if it showed equal interest in children. Where is
the call for royal commissions into why the vast majority of abuse cases
never even get reported, let alone make it to court, and into why our child
abuse intervention and prevention services are so under-resourced? Add that
to the petition and I might join in the hysteria and sign it, too
2003-0706 - Sunday Star
Times - How to protest
by
Lynley Hood, Katherine Rich, Don Brash – Those wishing to sign the petition
can – a petition with wording identical to the first is still in circulation
2003-0706 - Sunday
Star Times - Buck passing on Ellis
by
Richard Christie - So Frank Haden believes a commission of inquiry into the
Ellis case is now almost inevitable (June 29). One ought not to lose sight of
the tremendous damage this may cause to the health and well being of ordinary
Christchurch citizens
2003-0706 - Sunday
Star Times - Ellis Injustice
by
Reg Nicholson - When Peter Ellis is found not guilty (as he will be), ..............then
surely Frank Haden will be deserving of some national award for the way he
has kept a case of gross injustice before our eyes.
2003-0705 - The Listener -
That petition, Editorial
by Finlay MacDonald - Along with several other practitioners of my
trade, and a large number of far more eminent personages, I signed the
petition. There are those who believe that this compromises some notion of
editorial independence, but I would argue that the only bias it betrays is
one in favour of examining all the facts pertaining to the Ellis case and
clearing up once and for all a festering legal and moral sore. Obviously this
is motivated by a deep suspicion that something has gone wrong; the petition
is about Ellis's conviction being beyond reasonable doubt, and its
signatories harbour very reasonable doubts that it was.
2003-0705 -
Otago Daily Times - Promising information
by
Jane Smith - National Business Review publisher Barry Colman says his
$100,000 reward for new information on the Peter Ellis case has prompted two
people with "potentially promising" information to come forward
2003-0705 - The Press - New
leads on Ellis
by
Anna Claridge - Two South Islanders closely involved in the Peter Ellis case
have responded to a $100,000 reward offered by publisher Barry Colman for new
information on the case
2003-0705 - The Press
- Ellis case: Letter by G Dale
by G Dale - What has to be realised here is that the children who were abused at
the creche have fought their own battles with trauma. Unlike the Ellis camp, they do not have
limitless funds and the support of the gay community, providing a continuous
stream of media hype
2003-0705 - The
Press - Ellis case: Letter by J Doherty
by
John Doherty - So prominent people have grave concerns on the Ellis verdict.
I have even greater concerns that people would rather judge a person's guilt
or innocence based on a book rather than a criminal trial
2003-0705 - Evening
Standard - Ellis case clues
Publisher
Barry Colman says his offer of $100,000 for new information on the Peter
Ellis case has prompted two promising leads
2003-0704 - Otago Daily
Times - Peter Ellis
Letter to the Editor by Trevor Norton - While reading Lynley
Hood's book, A City Possessed , I
noticed the recurring child abuse. It was persistent through the entire
episode in Christchurch, and no-one appeared to comment, or even notice it
2003-0704
- Stuff - Reward offer in Ellis case prompts two leads
NZPA - Publisher Barry Colman says his offer of $100,000 for new information
on the Peter Ellis case has prompted two promising leads from people directly
involved in the case. The two leads might be enough to justify the inquiry.
Mr Colman said inquiries into the leads would be completed in about 10 days.
None of the callers had indicated any interest in the reward money and one
had said they wanted to "get this off my conscience". "One of
the reasons for making a money offer was that many of the people involved in
the affair received $10,000 lump sum payments from the ACC for "suffering"
during the episode. These people will now have no financial reason for not
coming forward."
2003-0704 - NZ Herald -
Letter to the Editor
by
Ian Hassall - Much of the concern in the Ellis case appears to hinge on two
points - the screening out of some children's testimony and the credibility
of children's evidence in general...........There is a risk to children in
the present debate of the clock being turned back to a time when they were
disbelieved simply because they were children and effectively excluded from a
justice system that failed to accommodate them. Abusers should not be allowed
to feel safe in their activities and the children should not be denied the
opportunity to escape.
2003-0703 -
Dominion Post - An Open Letter to Phil Goff
by Chris Trotter – Dear Phil, I can't
say I'm surprised by your refusal to seek a royal commission of inquiry into
the Peter Ellis case, but I am angry. You have a rare opportunity to right a
terrible wrong _ and you should not refuse. Rather than vindicate people's
faith in the democratic state's ability to call wayward institutions to
account, you are deepening a growing disillusionment with a system whose first,
last and eternal priority appears to many to be self-protection.
2003-0703 - Southland Times
- Creche case
Letter to the Editor by AJ Lemm - Not a scrap of factual evidence in this
conviction proves Peter Ellis's guilt. Mr Goff has a hobby horse called
Inflexible. The time has come for him to dismount gracefully and implement a
full Commission of Inquiry
2003-0703 - Otago Daily Times
- Peter Ellis
Letter to the Editor by Suzanne George - Adolph Hitler was an author obsessed
and able to incite mass hysteria. I strongly suggest the petition calling for
a royal commission of inquiry into the Peter Ellis case falls into the same
category
2003-0703 - Dominion
Post - Tenuous and fashionable
Letter to the Editor by Martin Wilson - Peter Ellis' imprisonment appears to have
been based upon hysteria as much as tenuous and fashionable (at the time)
child sex abuse theories
2003-0702 - The Press - A
truly political issue
by
Nigel Hampton, QC - The Peter Ellis case has passed through, and is now well
past, the judicial system. It is in the political arena. The Minister of
Justice, Phil Goff, in taking the stance he has to the petition seeking a
Royal Inquiry, abdicates his authority. He attempts to hide behind the judicial
processes which have taken place, flawed as those processes are said to be in
the petition, in Lynley Hood’s book, and as briefly argued below. The matter
is no longer one for the judicial system. It is, properly, in the political
arena. Historically, instances of injustice have been solved politically, the
prime example being the Arthur Allan Thomas affair. The Minister Hides, as
well, behind his call, which he repeats as a mantra, for fresh information,
for new evidence
2003-0702 -
The Press - Shortage of male teachers is here to stay
Letter
to the Editor by G G Vince MacDonald - This shortage of male teachers is here
to stay while good men remain vulnerable. An entrenched group within the
profession encourages the suspicion. Peter Ellis is merely one case in point.
2003-0702 - NZ Herald - The Ellis
case
Letter to the Editor by Sandra Coney - I have been mystified as
to how Lynley Hood's book "A City Possessed" has come to be seen as
the key argument for Ellis' innocence. The book is highly manipulative in its
use of material. Attention to the referencing for this book reveals a
lamentable lack of rigour in the support which Hood provides for her thesis.
For instance, the reference given
Follow up correspondence:
2003-0704
- NZ Herald - The Ellis case
Letter to the Editor by Gordon Waugh - The Ellis case is a
copycat version of many other similar cases overseas, in which the evidence
was produced by "expert interpretation" in a climate of hysteria
and moral panic, but in which the convicted perpetrators have since been
acquitted by impartial, reasoned examination in appellate courts. If Ms Coney
can provide testable evidence to support her contention that the children
were in fact abused, we would all like to see it so this matter can be put to
bed
2003-0701 - Otago Daily Times - 1200 put name to
Ellis inquiry petition
Petitions for a commission
of inquiry into Peter Ellis' convictions, have attracted more than 1200
names, organiser Katherine Rich said last night. Mrs Rich, the national list
MP who with fellow MP Don Brash orchestrated a high-profile petition
presented to Justice Minister Phil Goff last week, said public pressure had
dictated the need for a further petition
2003-0701 - Timaru Herald - Goff stubbornly
blinkered on Ellis case
by Nick Lindo - The Peter
Ellis saga seems to have reached an impasse. All sorts of distinguished
people have now signed a petition, ........calling for a Royal Commission to
inquire, once again, into the notorious, 1992 Christchurch Civic Creche case
which put Peter Ellis, protesting vehemently his innocence, into prison for
seven years. Mr Goff, the extraordinarily staunch, if not severely blinkered,
Minister of Justice, as he has done in the face of other such recent attempts
to clear Mr Ellis’s name, can repeat only, and endlessly, that unless “new
evidence” be found he sees no reason why he should re-open the case.
2003-0701 - NZ Herald - Justice system failures must
be rectified for Ellis' sake
by Lynley Hood - The Herald
editorial (28 July) backing the Minister of Justice's refusal to establish a
royal commission of inquiry into the Christchurch civic creche case was
misguided. In this case, the justice system has failed, and failed badly, and
has been unable to self-correct. It convicted Peter Ellis and threw
Christchurch into turmoil on the evidence of very young children, in the absence
of corroborating evidence, and despite the great majority of parents with
children at the creche finding nothing inappropriate in Ellis' behaviour.
Until there is a full inquiry by an independent judge from outside the New
Zealand jurisdiction, this case won't go away
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