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Allegations
of Abuse in Institutions |
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Officers in charge of
Waiouru's army cadet school in the 1970s and 1980s are surprised at
allegations of sexual abuse and bullying and are questioning the motivation
of the accusers. Wayne Anker, commanding
officer at the Regular Force Cadet School in Waiouru in 1982 when cadet Grant
Bain was fatally shot by another cadet, said bullying at the school was no
worse than at boarding schools. The circumstances of Mr
Bain's death are to be examined, along with allegations of sexual abuse and
daily assaults at the cadet school. The court of inquiry
into Mr Bain's death at the time was extensive. Mr Anker questioned the
motives of people now complaining about abuse. "I have been
surprised by a lot of the allegations. Some people appear to be trying to
capitalise on the highly publicised prison inmate payouts," he said. The commanding officer
of the cadet school in 1975, retired brigadier John Dennistoun-Wood, 58, also
questioned the motives of those coming forward. He was surprised and
disgusted to hear the allegations aired in the media. All cadets knew that
bullying, or "unofficial justice", was wrong and was an offence
under military law, he said. "Two or three" cadets had been
disciplined for bullying behaviour during his command. "I have no doubt
that bullying went on, but this is the sort of thing that goes on at boarding
schools. Sometimes it's called initiation, other times it's just that
somebody doesn't like somebody else . . . and they take the law into their
own hands." If other cases of gross
abuse had happened, they had not been brought to the attention of commanding
officers. Former major Neville
Kidd, commanding officer in 1978, said he might not have heard of any abuse
because of military hierarchy. Under him were orderly officers, orderly
sergeants and orderly NCOs. "In the evenings, they were the ones
responsible but nothing was ever reported to me. If I had known, I would have
taken immediate action." -------------------- CAPTION: John
Dennistoun-Wood in the 1980s |
