The Christchurch Civic Crèche Case |
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A City Possessed: Lynley Hood's long-awaited potboiler account of the
Christchurch Civic Creche case is now published. It is as controversial as
anticipated, and perhaps longer than expected. A City Possessed reviews the
extraordinary saga of the allegations of ritual sexual abuse in respect of
Peter Ellis and four other childcare workers. It is a hard-hitting and
fascinating analysis of the many influences that she contends contributed to
the moral panic which gave rise to the charges. Her arguments fall squarely within a well recognised
history of such crises, which date back at least to 16th and 17th century
witchhunts. More controversial are her analyses of the role of experts, child
protection workers, police, homophobes and lesbians, in the evolution of
allegations particularly against Peter Ellis, the childcare worker at the
centre of the case. Lynley Hood was granted unparalleled access to players in
the Christchurch drama, although a number of the parents of the children who
made "disclosures" not surprisingly declined to speak to her.
However, thousands of pages of transcript from the criminal justice process,
both at first instance and on the various appeals, filled the gap
effectively. Ms Hood intersperses her analysis of the psychiatrists' and
psychologists' opinions with close examination of the text of the children's
allegations and retractions, weaving a deeply disturbing picture of how so
many patently absurd allegations could have become intermingled with so many
apparently sound accounts. Lynley Hood has strong views about the case and found
herself and her manuscript overtaken by the legal proceedings, having tapes
of interviews that she had conducted subpoenaed to the Court of Appeal in the
1999 appeal for the proceedings that immediately preceded Ellis' release upon
completion of his sentence in February 2000. She believes passionately that
the history of the case reflects poorly upon the New Zealand administration
of justice and concludes the book with the contention that the 2000
Eichelbaum Report into the case "will serve only to bring a commission
of inquiry into the New Zealand criminal justice system that much
closer." Whether or not one accepts Ms Hood's final contention,
that Ellis was scapegoated by wellmeaning but obsessed crusaders, her account
of the Christchurch Civic Creche saga constitutes an internationally
important record of an extraordinary and frightening episode in New Zealand
legal history. There can be no doubt that Ms Hood's work compels reassessment
of the way those concerned about the welfare of young children looked after
in creches should go about their task when allegations or
"disclosures" are made. The case will have many repercussions,
following a series of parallel controversies in other parts of the world -
notably the Cleveland scandal in England, the Orkney intervention north of
Scotland, and the McMartin pre-school scandal in California, to name a few.
If the Christchurch Civic Creche case has revealed the criminal investigative
system as "found wanting", it has also cast a worrying light on the
objectivity of a series of well-regarded experts and campaigners, in New
Zealand and internationally, upon whom the legal system needs to be able to
rely in times of crisis. It poses questions not only about the circumstances
in which the notorious section 23G of the Evidence Act 1908 became part of
New Zealand law, but also about whether there is any empirical justication
for its retention. A City Possessed is a landmark work.
The author has brought to her task strong views and occasionally lapses
infelicitously into sarcasm and parody. However, she emerges not as an advocate
for Peter Ellis but as a concerned historian with an extraordinary challenge
to the criminal justice system. Whether one agrees with her or is satisfied
with the decisions of a jury, eight Judges of the Court of Appeal and a
Ministerial Inquiry, chaired by a former Chief Justice of New Zealand, the
issues she raises are confronting, worrying and demand a considered response. A City Possessed is well written,
excellently edited and professionally presented. It walks the difficult line
between a scholarly work and a book that is engaging and accessible.
Ultimately, it does so successfully, entertaining, provoking and chronicling
an extraordinary legal and social saga which is deserving of the kind of
in-depth treatment given to it by Lynley Hood. Her analysis of the
Christchurch Civic Creche saga will prove controversial. It deserves to be
read by all who are concerned with the potential for injustice, and with the
way our communities should deal with emotive and disturbing accounts of
misconduct by adults against children. |