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Allegations
of Abuse in Institutions |
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A preliminary decision
about laying charges against former Lake Alice Hospital staff who allegedly
abused and tortured children in the 1970s is expected next month. The Crown Law Office is
expected to give the Police Commissioner's Office its advice within weeks.
Then Commissioner Robert Robinson will decide whether to lay charges. "A final decision
is still some time away," said Police Commissioner's Office spokesman
Michael Player. "The complexity and the age of the issue makes it
complicated." Meanwhile, former Lake
Alice Hospital residents are chafing at how long it is taking. Sharyn Collis, who
lives in Palmerston North and who was raped, given paraldehyde injections and
electroconvulsive therapy without anaesthetic as punishments while at Lake
Alice, says she started trying to get information about whether charges would
be laid straight after her 2001 apology and compensation payment from the
Government. "I have rung, I
have emailed, I have given them my files, I have offered to assist in any way
possible," she said. "And I just keep getting fobbed off. Nothing
happens, except I get `we have received your letter and we will keep in touch
with you' letters. "The apology and
the compensation proves that the Government believed and accepted our
evidence. Why is this taking so long? "I think it's just
too hard for them. I think they're hoping it will go away." Massey University
clinical psychologist Jan Dickson is another person who says the delays are
"disgraceful". |
