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Allegations
of Abuse in Institutions |
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Defence Minister Phil
Goff has received a long-awaited report on alleged physical and sexual abuse
at the army's former cadet school at Waiouru and is seeking legal advice on
appropriate action. The move to pass the
report, by former High Court Judge David Morris, to the Crown Law Office via
the Attorney-General may indicate that the Government is considering charges.
"The Minister has
received the report and has, at this point, referred it to Crown Law for an
opinion," a spokesman for Goff said. He declined to detail
the findings of the report, but said it could take up to two months before
the result of the inquiry was released to the public. "Crown Law will report
back with their views and the Minister will consider it," he said. "Then an
announcement will be made about what the review found and what the Government
will do as a result of the findings." The results of the
inquiry had already been delayed by several months because the former judge
was ill. It had been due to
report back on March 30. Morris had been given a
broad brief to assess claims of abuse over several decades at the Waiouru
army cadet school, which was closed in 1991. The probe was sparked
by claims from former cadet Ian Fraser in October last year that there was
widespread "physical, psychological and sexual abuse" of cadets as
young as 15 at the school between the 1960s and 1980s. Since Fraser spoke out,
about 350 other cadets have come forward with abuse complaints. One of those was a
Christchurch engineer and former cadet at Waiouru, who told The Press at the
time he was brutally treated and sexually abused by an officer in the 1980s. The man, now in his
40s, described being plied with alcohol and fondled as a young cadet. "I didn't move. I
just stayed still and hoped it would end," he said, adding that he was
punished for not reciprocating. He said he was later
caught by military police while trying to hitchhike home to Christchurch, and
punished again. According to the terms
of reference for the probe, Morris was to examine the behaviour and treatment
of cadets at the Regular Force Cadet School from 1948-1991. He was also authorised
to look into the events surrounding the killing of a cadet, Grant Bain, in
1981. Morris was tasked with
separating issues of alleged mistreatment from those that amounted to crimes.
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