Allegations
of Abuse in NZ |
|
|
|
Police will explain how
they are supposed to deal with sexual complaints against fellow officers at a
commission of inquiry hearing today. It signals the start of
31/2 months of hearings that will put police, and the way they have handled
complaints of sexual abuse by their own during the past 25 years, under the
spotlight. The commission was
sparked by allegations made in The Dominion Post in January by Rotorua woman
Louise Nicholas that she was pack-raped and violated with a police baton in
1986, when she was 18, by three police officers. Two, Bob Schollum and
Brad Shipton, have since left the police and the third, Clint Rickards,
Auckland commander and an assistant commissioner, has been stood down on full
pay. All deny the allegations. Former Rotorua CIB
chief John Dewar is accused of having failed to properly investigate Mrs
Nicholas' original complaints. In the wake of the
allegations, another senior policeman, Kelvin Powell, has also been stood
down on full pay while police investigate complaints of sexual offences. The commission
will start its hearing behind schedule, after initial information gathering
was delayed by blanket secrecy provisions in the Police Complaints Authority
Act that protect the anonymity of informants. In the commission's first
public meeting in March, High Court judge Justice Bruce Robertson, who heads
the inquiry with Dame Margaret Bazley, said he was unsure whether it could
report back to the Government by its November deadline. A law change was rushed
through Parliament to allow commission staff to peruse the files, and was
passed earlier this month. The commission will
hear how police officers were expected and required to respond when an
allegation of sexual assault was made against another police officer. Police lawyer Kristy
McDonald, QC, will be calling Superintendent Dave Trappitt, for the Office of
the Commissioner, as a formal witness to explain procedures. The hearing should take
a day. A commission spokesman
could not say when evidence from those alleging their complaints were mishandled
would be heard, because it was still being collected. Since a call for
submissions was made in March, three interviewers have flown around New
Zealand to meet those people and record their stories. The number of people
who have come forward is not being made public, as the commissioners try to
reassure potential informants that unnecessary information will not be made
public. ------------------- THE MAIN PLAYERS ------------------- Louise Nicholas:
Alleges she was pack-raped and violated with a baton by Rickards, Schollum
and Shipton in Rotorua in 1986. -------------------- Clint Rickards:
Auckland district police commander and assistant commissioner. Joined Rotorua
police in 1979. Currently stood down on full pay. Brad Shipton: Tauranga city
councillor. Policeman for 18 years, who was based in Rotorua in 1986. Bob Schollum: Hastings
used-car salesman. Joined police 1977, posted to Murupara 1980, then Rotorua.
Kelvin Powell: Waikato
district commander, stood down on full pay while allegations of sexual
offending in the 1980s are investigated. John Dewar: Former head
of Rotorua CIB. Accused of failing to properly investigate Nicholas' 1986
allegations. Rex Miller: Retired
detective chief inspector who led Police Complaints Authority inquiry into
Dewar's handling of Nicholas' complaint. Bruce Robertson and
Dame Margaret Bazley: The High Court judge and the no-nonsense civil servant
appointed to head the inquiry. Rob Robinson: Police
commissioner. Promoted Rickards. Nick Perry: Southern district
commander tasked with leading the criminal investigation into the pack-rape
claims. -------------------- Judith Garrett: Came
forward after Mrs Nicholas' claims became public alleging a Kaitaia constable
handcuffed and raped her in a police station in March 1988. |