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Radio New Zealand (RNZ) must apologise and pay costs to convicted sex offender Peter
Ellis over allegations made against him on its Nine to Noon programme. The Broadcasting Standards
Authority (BSA) made the ruling after a complaint from Ellis over a programme
aired by RNZ in August last year. In the programme an anonymous
mother and son made new, unspecified allegations relating to Ellis's time at
the Christchurch Civic Creche. The allegations made by the pair
were not part of the court proceedings that ended with the conviction of
Ellis on sexual abuse charges from his time at the creche.
The BSA ruled the broadcast
seriously breached the "standards of fairness and balance". "Mr
Ellis was being anonymously accused of criminal but unspecified offending of
a very serious kind." The authority said that although
Ellis had been convicted of sexual offences and served a prison sentence he
had the same rights as other citizens. "(He) is entitled to be
treated justly and fairly. The Authority notes its deep concern at what
amounted to a serious disregard for Mr Ellis's
rights." The BSA found: * Ellis had not been aware of the
new allegations before they were broadcast. * The allegations were so vague
they would have been impossible to defend. * The allegations made were
neither substantiated nor critically examined by the broadcaster. It was noted Ellis turned down a
chance to participate in a "sympathetic interview" with the broadcaster.
RNZ was ordered to pay $5300 in
costs to Ellis plus $5000 in costs to the Crown. It also had to publish a summary
of the decision in the four major metropolitan dailies. -------------------- CAPTION: Peter Ellis |
