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Allegations of Abuse
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peterellis Home / abuse allegations / Peter Stewart Peter Stewart - News
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The Press A luxury-yacht charter business
owned by convicted sex offender and Christchurch society stalwart Peter
Stewart looks set to continue despite his almost certain jailing next month. Inquiries by The Press show the
28m ketch Pacific Eagle, built for cruising around New Zealand and Pacific
waters, is available for charter at about $45,000 a week. New Zealand Luxury Yacht Charters
has the yacht on its books, and a representative in Picton said the yacht was
still available as far as she knew. The air-conditioned yacht, which
has three "sumptuous staterooms" each equipped with a marble
bathroom, has been moored in Lochmara Bay in the Marlborough Sounds over the
Christmas-New Year break. Stewart, who was convicted last
month on seven historical sex charges, including rape and sodomy, also has a
holiday house at the bay. Stewart, who will be sentenced on
February 12, is expected to appeal against the convictions to the Court of
Appeal. He is on bail. The yacht has been available for
charters since about 2002, with Stewart fulfilling the role of skipper and
engineer. A contract chef, Chris Fortune, of Hell's Kitchen fame, and a
deckhand-steward complete the crew, according to the business's website. Although the complainant in the
case maintains her silence, a friend told The Press she was "OK"
but felt numb in the aftermath of the verdicts and giving evidence in court,
which she found harrowing. The friend said the complainant
had the strong support of her family and the partner she lived with in
Canterbury. "It's been a gut-wrenching
thing for the whole family. She says it will take a long time to
recover," said the friend, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "It's very difficult for her
to understand what is normal. It's changed her life. She finds it hard to
settle anywhere," said the friend. She remembered the complainant
calling Stewart an "awful" man and over the years
"snippets" of the abuse emerged. "We didn't go visiting it
much. You don't want to go back and review these things. There's a lot of
self-blame," she said. |
