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Allegations
of Abuse in Institutions |
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An organisation
encouraging former Lake Alice Hospital patients to complain to police about a
psychiatrist is heartened by an Australian court decision against him. The Melbourne County
Court has awarded $55,000 to a woman who said Selwyn Leeks sexually abused
her as a patient in 1979 and 1980. Dr Leeks was in charge
of the child and adolescent unit at the now-closed Lake Alice Hospital near
Bulls 1972-1977. Since leaving New Zealand in 1977, Dr Leeks has worked in
Australia and Canada. In May, he surrendered his licence after 50 complaints
against him in Australia. Steve Green, of the
Citizens Commission on Human Rights, which instigated the laying of 34
complaints from New Zealand, said he was heartened by the court's decision.
"This is extra evidence that what Dr Leeks was doing was not
medicine." |
