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Otago Daily Times Christchurch: Fashion Week founder
and managing director Pieter Stewart is sticking by her husband after he was
convicted of sexually abusing an 8-year-old girl. Peter Maxwell Stewart (62), a
luxury charter boat operator, farmer and member of one of Canterbury’s
wealthiest families, was found guilty by a High Court jury earlier this month
of one charge of sodomy, one of rape, two of inducing an indecent act and
three of indecent assault. The acts took place between 30 and
40 years ago, from when the victim was as young as 8. Stewart’s lawyer, Jonathan Eaton,
yesterday gave up the battle to keep his client’s name suppressed, saying his
identity was already widely known. The Stewart family’s electrical
fittings and goods company, PDL, was sold to French firm Schneider in 2001
for $97 million, and the family is now involved in a range of business
ventures. Stewart married his wife, Pieter,
on November 1, 1968, and it was during their marriage that he was found to
have committed the sexual acts against his victim. Mrs Stewart took the witness box
in her husband’s defence during his trial and said she never saw any evidence
of abuse. She could not be reached for comment yesterday, but in a letter to
Fashion Week sponsors yesterday, Mrs Stewart and her daughter, Myken, the
event’s brand manager, said: ‘‘We wish to dismiss any concerns that you may
have about this iconic event arising from publicity around matters affecting
our family. ‘‘It is important to us that our
sponsors are aware of our total ongoing commitment to delivering another
outstanding showcase of New Zealand fashion.’’ Stewart was present at his wife’s
side in the front row at many of the shows during Fashion Week in September.
The couple split their time between a deer farm near Methven in Canterbury,
and Auckland. During the trial, the jury heard
that Stewart had admitted to his wife some years earlier that he had sex with
the victim in a boat when she was aged 17, but he denied any other sexual
encounters took place. Mrs Stewart described her husband
as always patient with his victim, who suffered a disability. She told the
court she never saw any evidence of anything sexual occurring between her
husband and the victim, who was known to both of them. ‘‘I could assure you, if I had
ever suspected anything I would have done something very strongly about it.’’
‘‘[She] clearly had a crush on
Peter from a young age, but we have all had crushes. I never had any reason
to think anything different from just that.’’ But prosecutor Phil Shamy said
Stewart had moulded his victim to the point where she became infatuated with
him and agreed to keep the abuse a secret. The girl, 14 years his junior,
came to believe that she was in love. ‘‘That’s perhaps the saddest part
of this case — how he manipulated her,’’ Mr Shamy said. ‘‘She sees him as a Prince
Charming, perhaps. He sees her as the perfect victim. He twisted her feelings
for a purpose.’’ Police only became involved in the
case after Stewart visited the victim in 2003. The victim said Stewart had asked
her for sex, but he maintained she misunderstood his intentions. After the allegations arose,
Stewart’s stepmother, Lady Adrienne Stewart — described in court as the
matriarch of the family — offered the victim a house in Christchurch. The prosecution said this was an attempt
to stop the allegations against Stewart seeing the light of day, but the
defence said it was simply an act of generosity towards a woman having
financial problems. After the allegations surfaced,
Mrs Stewart confronted her husband and he admitted to cheating on her with
the victim. Mr Stewart said he could see
himself losing 35 years of marriage, his four ‘‘beautiful children’’ and the
‘‘big businesses’’ they had created together. During the trial, Stewart’s
defence lawyer Jonathan Eaton tried to paint the victim as a liar ‘‘fuelled
by fantasy, ignited by envy and motivated by money’’. She had concocted a story of abuse
for attention and to blackmail Stewart and his family, Mr Eaton said. Stewart is due to be sentenced in
February. |
