A City Possessed
The Christchurch Civic Creche Case
Lynley Hood
Extract from Chapter 4 (pages 127-141)
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The Fever
Throughout the three years prior to Karen Zelas's emergence as a sexual abuse
expert, Christchurch feminists and child protection workers trained by Miriam
Saphira and Lynda Morgan had been uncovering child sexual abuse on a grand
scale. However, because few cases were professionally validated, they had
little impact on the official statistics. The change came when Dr Zelas began
applying her newfound expertise. Between 31 March 1984 and 31 March 1985,
sexual abuse referrals to the Child and Family Guidance Centre increased by
over 360 percent. The following year the increase spread to Ward 24 and Glenelg
Children's Health Camp. [29] From then on, any troubled family that stumbled
into the currents that swirled between those three
* * *
Ward 24,
Regardless of the presenting problem, children were admitted to Ward 24 for
five weeks. On admission, each child was allocated a primary therapist who was
responsible for his or her day-to-day care and therapy. Primary therapists were
nurses or Child and Family Workers. The latter were chosen for their 'personal
qualities indicative of a genuine interest in working with children'. They were
the only clinical staff employed by the hospital board who did not have
p127 Chapter 4.II "The Place" "A City Possessed" by
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traditional health care qualifications. This would have been of little
consequence had they been adequately trained and supervised. But Professor Ney
believed that obligatory supervision would create an unnecessarily hierarchical
staff structure which would not be conducive to the development of a
therapeutic environment. So he allowed unqualified and untrained staff to treat
troubled children as they saw fit, and to consult specialists only when they
considered it necessary to do so. [30]
From the outset, Ward 24 staff made the diagnosis and treatment of child sexual
abuse a priority. When Lynda Morgan addressed the November 1982 Mental Health
Foundation Conference, she said: 'We want to congratulate Ward 24, Christchurch
Hospital, on the work they are doing with abused, specifically sexually abused
children, and with their mothers'. [31]
* * *
At the Child and
Family Guidance Centre and Ward 24, the move towards large scale diagnosis of
child sexual abuse was led by poorly supervised junior staff. At the other key
Like the other five permanent children's health camps spread throughout
After six years in general practice, Dr Dianne Espie was appointed medical officer of health
responsible for Glenelg Children's Health Camp in 1981. She had no
post-graduate qualifications in paediatrics, psychiatry or gynaecology, but
during the '80s she attended many seminars on child abuse and counselling, and
thereby became a child sexual abuse expert. By 1985 she was diagnosing
increasing numbers of sexual abuse cases in the course of her work. [33]
* * *
As the number of
sexual abuse cases identified at the Child and Family Guidance Centre, Ward 24
and Glenelg began to escalate, the
p128 Chapter 4.II "The Place" "A City Possessed" by
Lynley Hood
number of Family Court custody, access and guardianship cases involving sexual
abuse allegations also began to climb. For Family Court judges, determining
whether or not a child had been sexually abused seemed a near-impossible task.
Like water divining, it appeared to require a special skill. They usually
relied on the advice of experts in reaching their conclusions. And whenever an
expert was needed, Karen Zelas was the obvious choice.
As a witness, Zelas excelled. 'She's calm and measured. She comes across as
sincere and reassuring. Unflappability is her greatest strength,' said one
lawyer. [34]
'She's an articulate and polished performer. She handles cross-examination
very, very well,' said another. [35]
'Judges relied heavily on Karen Zelas,' explained a legal academic. 'It was
such a new field, and Karen came across as scientific and professional. They
found that tremendously reassuring.' [36]
As the
The Sixth International Congress on Child Abuse and Neglect was the first that
the influential International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and
Neglect had held in the Southern Hemisphere. With 1,600 delegates it was the
largest child abuse conference in Australian history. The 70-strong
p129 Chapter 4.II "The Place" "A City Possessed" by
Lynley Hood
of Professor Ney, Watkins had exchanged his half-time job at the Child and
Family Guidance Centre for a half-time job as director of Ward 24, while
continuing his other half-time job as Lecturer in Psychological Medicine at the
Christchurch School of Medicine.)
Among the luminaries who addressed the Sydney Congress were Arnon Bentovim,
inventor of the Great Ormond Street technique for interrogating unwilling
children [see Ch.2.II], Roland Summit, inventor of the Child Sexual Abuse
Accommodation Syndrome [see Ch.2.II], paediatrician Astrid Heger and social worker
Kee MacFarlane from Children's Institute International (an abuse investigation
unit in Los Angeles), and David Finkelhor, a New Hampshire sociologist and
researcher of sexual abuse issues [see Ch.5.II]. [38]
The work of
Getting the kids to talk in such cases wasn't easy. At a court hearing prior to
the Sydney Congress,
the investigator must wait to build a trusting relationship and hope to
find some way to pry open the window of disclosure. That usually requires
[subjecting the child to] multiple interviews, ingratiation, and separation
from the alleged perpetrators. Direct questioning may be unproductive unless
coupled with confrontation, presenting the child with a reassurance that the
examiner already knows what happened. The investigator either provides a
hypothetical [scenario] based on experience with other cases, or assures the
child that another victim has already broken the secret. [40]
In the McMartin
case, MacFarlane (as principle interviewer) and Heger (as medical examiner)
used anatomically correct dolls and hand puppets to encourage, cajole, threaten
and bribe children into disclosing abuse. In a videotaped interview recorded
during the investigation, Heger told a girl who repeatedly denied being abused,
'I don't
p130 Chapter 4.II "The Place" "A City Possessed" by Lynley Hood
want to hear any more "no"s. No, no! Detective Dog and we are going
to figure this out. Every little boy and girl in the whole school got touched
like that...'
Heger also examined children's genitals and diagnosed redness, lax anal tone,
vaginal and urinary infections, hymenal openings of more than four millimetres
and irregularities in the smoothness and symmetry of the hymen as signs of
sexual abuse. If none of these signs were present, she reported that her findings
were 'consistent with a history of sexual abuse'. After interviewing and
examining around 200 children, MacFarlane and Heger concluded that four-fifths
had been sexually abused. [41]
In the
After hearing from the experts, delegates to the Sydney Congress returned to
their own countries to search out sexual abuse victims and perpetrators with
renewed vigour.
p131 Chapter 4.II "The Place" "A City Possessed" by
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III
.
The Epidemic
The Geddis committee's 1986 report Guidelines
for the Investigation and Management of Child Sexual Abuse [see Ch.3.I] was
released in
In
Whenever the CPT considered a case, it weighed the risks of removing the child
from the family against the risks of leaving the family intact, and reached a
decision based on 'the best interests of the child'. In cases of severe
physical abuse the balance of risks was tipped in favour of intervention
(because, without intervention, the child could die). But in cases of sexual
abuse the balance was less clear. According to the Geddis report, victims of
child sexual abuse may suffer headaches, abdominal pains, obesity, anxiety,
depression and low self esteem. As it happens, victims of broken homes may
suffer the same symptoms. This means that, even in clearly proven cases of
child sexual abuse, any intervention is likely to cause the very problems it is
intended to prevent.
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The CPT had no statutory authority. Consequently, its practice of sharing
confidential information about individuals without their knowledge or consent
raised serious privacy issues, and its directions to DSW social workers and
police officers to remove children from their families raised serious questions
of accountability.
For most occupational groups, the duty of confidentiality is an ethical and
common law matter, but for hospital board employees it is a matter of law. For
this reason, the Canterbury Hospital Board declined to join the CPT. However,
in defiance of the board, and in defiance of the law, staff of the Child and
Family Guidance Centre and Ward 24 joined the CPT and were actively involved in
its work. [3]
In addition to the inter-agency CPT, in 1986 Christchurch DSW formed its own
Child Abuse Team, and in 1987
In The Press of 17 July 1987, under
the headline 'Dramatic increase in child abuse', Dianne Espie reported that she had examined 40
sexually abused children already that year; most had shown signs of previous
penetration. Next day, Detective Sergeant John Ell reported that 60 child
sexual abuse cases, some involving children as young as 18 months, had been
reported to police since 21 April. Two weeks later, Bill Watkins, director of
Ward 24, said he would not be surprised if there were 200 child sexual abuse
cases in
As the Press report of 17 July
indicates, the 1987 avalanche of sexual abuse reports began with Dianne Espie's medical
examinations of children. Most of the examinations took place at Glenelg Health
Camp where manager Madeleine Harrison used a list of alleged indicators to
identify suspected victims.
p133 Chapter 4.III "The Place" "A City Possessed" by
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among children admitted to Glenelg. This is hardly surprising - children
removed from home and placed among strangers often display such behaviours -
but to
Madeleine Harrison referred suspected sexual abuse victims to Dianne Espie, who
conducted medical examinations and diagnostic interviews. Their unrelenting
search brought male staff at Glenelg under suspicion. Staff member Alan Fort's
problems began in June 1987 when he was 'approached by a senior staff member
who was very concerned at the number of girls being sexually examined by Dr Dianne Espie without
any consent by parents.' Shortly afterwards, another male staff member, Anthony
B, was dismissed for 'inappropriate kissing and cuddling' of a ten-year-old boy
at bedtime. 'I have not been informed of the date of alleged incident, nor who
reported it,' Mr B protested.'... the reason given seems also to imply that
some sort of sexual activity went on... The very idea that I could even be
suspected of this makes me sick to the stomach.' [7]
The following month, Fort too was dismissed. 'Glenelg still have not told me to
this day why I was dismissed and what the allegations were,' he complained two
years later. [8]
Questions of parental consent of the sort that concerned Alan Fort always loom
large when there is a risk that a medical intervention will cause long-term
harm, and this was certainly the case with Espie's examinations of children. Using
controversial methods, she diagnosed sexual abuse on an unprecedented scale
and, as a consequence of her work, fathers were accused of molesting their
children, families were broken up and children suffered.
In response to a complaint to the Medical Council, Espie claimed that, as Medical Officer of
Health, she had legal authority to examine the genitals of children without
parental consent. She further claimed that, since parents had signed a general
consent form when their children were admitted to Glenelg, consent had already
been given. [9]
Espie conceded that
obtaining parental consent for any medical procedure was 'ideal', but argued
that 'consent from a parent was not appropriate or may not have been
appropriate...when the allegation was of intrafamilial sexual abuse'. This view
echoes the Geddis report: ... incest will likely entail a lack of awareness or
a desire for concealment on the part of the presenting parent or parents.
Consent... may
p134 Chapter 4.III "The Place" "A City Possessed" by
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be best obtained on general grounds in these circumstances.' [10]
According to Grant Gillett, Professor of Medical Ethics at the
The requirement for parental consent protects vulnerable children in an
adult dominated world. With medical interventions, parents have a
responsibility to weigh the benefits to the child against the risks. One of the
risks of a sexual abuse investigation is that the family will be broken up,
which is a momentous disruption to a child's life. In my view, even with
interventions where the risks to the child are negligible, suspending parental
consent on the basis of an 'allegation' isn't good enough. Parental consent
should be suspended only when there is strong evidence that the parents do not
have the best interests of the child at heart. Any surgeon who wants to do an
appendectomy on a child against the parents' wishes has to present enough
evidence to convince a court that parental consent must be suspended to
safeguard the child's welfare. And that's just for a four centimetre cut in the
abdomen and two days in hospital, which is piffling compared to the harm done
to a child by breaking up its family, so why should the standards differ? [11]
Having embarked on
her investigation without parental consent, Espie followed the Geddis report's recommendation
that doctors include in their medical examinations a diagnostic
interview/medical history using anatomically correct dolls ('to aid precision
in eliciting the history'), and a physical examination. 'In most cases the
history is more likely than the physical examination to yield important
information,' the report noted, but that was not Espie's experience. Although she conducted some
searching interviews, she found that many suspected abuse victims would not, or
could not, speak of the problem. But, when she examined the genitals of the
girls according to the Geddis report's instructions, she was usually able to
conclude that sexual abuse had occurred. The Geddis report stated:
Measure the transverse diameter of the vaginal opening, using a paper
tape cut to 1 cm lengths. If it is greater than 4 mm in the prepubertal child
it is probably abnormal. The vaginal opening varies but studies by Cantwell
indicate that an opening of greater than 4 mm is suggestive of previous
penetration. [12]
When Cantwell
published her findings in 1983, her four millimetre rule was hailed as a
definitive indicator of child molestation. But, by 1987, when Espie began using it to
'prove' that sexual abuse had
p135 Chapter 4.III "The Place" "A City Possessed" by
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taken place, it was being seriously challenged. By the end of the decade it had
been totally discredited. [13]
The damage done to families by Espie's misplaced reliance on the four millimetre rule was
compounded by her gynaecological ineptitude. In May 1987 eight-year-old Anna C
was admitted to Glenelg for toileting problems. After examining Anna on 22 June
1987, Espie
reported: 'No hymen. Transverse diameter of vaginal opening = 6 mm.' This
report does not make sense. Promoters of the four millimetre rule taught
doctors to measure the transverse diameter of the hymenal opening because the
hymen has a distinct margin, i.e. though the hymen is not particularly easy to
measure, it is easier to measure than the tissues surrounding it. Furthermore,
congenital absence of the hymen has never been reported and could not occur
without associated major genito-urinary abnormalities. The hymen may become
stretched and torn, but it never completely disappears. Remnants of hymen can
be seen in girls and women who have experienced repeated penetration or who
have given birth vaginally. Espie's
failure to find the hymen, and her measurement of something other than the
hymen, suggests that she did not know what she was doing. [14]
Espie's
gynaecological ineptitude was matched by her ineptitude as an interviewer.
After reviewing transcripts of her audiotaped interviews with Anna, Dr Herbert
Kean, a senior British police surgeon with post-graduate qualifications in
obstetrics, child health and medical jurisprudence, reported:
... interview with A on 22.6.87 ... most of this haphazard and
unconstructed interview is a fishing expedition. D makes such statements as 'So
you think the yukky touching might have started when you were four. Is that
right? It looks a wee bit stretched down there.' A answers most of the
questions with either 'Mmm' or 'No' or 'I don't know'... D is obviously getting
a bit desperate by p. 12... She asks 'What sort of rude things have people done
to you?' A replies 'Only the doctors have done rude things no one else has.'
When asked 'O.K. so who are the people who have touched your vagina?' A replies
'No one'. D then says 'O.K. how come it has got so big then?'... [3.7.87
interview] D tells A that she really knows who the adult is and spends the
interview time to get confirmation of her belief from A. There is some
suggestion... that if A tells Trish, Trish will tell the judge and A will be
allowed home. In spite of this coercion the interview was completely
inconclusive. Another report dated 3.7.87 tells of the interviewer writing all
the family names on a piece of paper and asking A to cross them all off except
those who
p136 Chapter 4.III "The Place" "A City Possessed" by
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yukky touched her. This ploy was obviously unsuccessful as A crossed
all the names off except her own...[15]
Espie's
approach to interviewing was in breach of the Geddis report guidelines, which
stated: 'Leading questions (e.g. those which imply the nature of the act or the
identity of the perpetrator) must not be used'. However, though Espie used the Geddis
report to justify her use of the four millimetre rule, she ignored it when
justifying her use of leading questions. 'I found that use of leading questions
was of therapeutic value where a child was having great difficulty talking
about possible abuse,' she told the Medical Council. [16]
At the 3 July interview, Espie
introduced Anna to anatomically correct dolls. Eight years later, Anna
recalled:
I remember when Dr
Espie showed me what to do with the dolls it was like a
follow-the-leader thing. I thought, okay that's what I'm supposed to do and
played with the dolls too. However, no matter what I did, she just kept on
going on about how someone had touched me and kept asking me questions about
Dad. I think that at some point, either after I had left Glenelg or just before
then, I actually did say that Dad had touched me - there just seemed no other
way out of it. [17]
On the day of that
interview, the police visited Mr C at work, and Dr Espie called Mrs C to Glenelg. Mr C was told
that Anna had been sexually abused (but not by whom), and Mrs C was told that
her husband had molested Anna. Two days later Anna was taken from Glenelg to a
foster home.
On 8 July, Mr and Mrs C's application to regain custody of Anna was rejected by
a Family Court judge. Social worker Trish Ross passed on the news to Anna:
I... took her to the park to explain that she would not be going home.
Anna was very upset and cried openly... I talked with Anna about how when the
judge and other people knew who it was who had done the bad touching, then we
could work out what needed to change... Anna cried a little more and stated
that she would tell Dr
Espie who it was. I cuddled Anna for some time telling her she was very
brave.. .[18]
After eight weeks
in foster care, Anna revisited Dr Espie. She recalled:
I have seen the notes recording a time on 28 August 1987 when I
apparently wanted dolls to 'show you what Dad did'. The notes say that ; I put
the male doll's finger inside the vagina of the girl doll, and then
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said 'Will I be able to go home now I've told?' That's very much what I
remember of the whole time - that no one would believe that Dad hadn't touched
me, and that the only way I could get out of it and be allowed to go home was
if I said he did. [19]
Trish Ross advised
Mr and Mrs C that 'it would be most unlikely Anna could come home... if Mr C
was also in the home', [32] so on 8 September he moved out. But it took until
27 October for the department to be satisfied that Mrs C 'understood and
supported Anna and would protect her from her father'. At that point Anna was
allowed home, but she remained in formal DSW custody until the charges against
her parents - that Anna was 'in need of care, protection or control' - were
resolved in the Family Court. [20]
The complaint action against Mr and Mrs C was originally set down for 5
November. That day, Jill Pengelly, counsel for the child, sought an adjournment
until 14 December in order to obtain a report from Karen Zelas. Around the same
time, Mr and Mrs C were sent for counselling on separation issues with Trish
Allen, a counsellor who worked in the same suite of offices as Karen Zelas.
All the while, Anna's DSW file continued to grow. Curiously, inserted between
two administrative notes, both dated 3 December 1987, is an undated and
unsourced newspaper article from Britain commenting on news that two Cleveland
paediatricians had discovered, in under six months, more than 200 children 'at
risk' of sexual abuse. The article stated:
Some [paediatricians] believe that vaginal size of more the five
millimetres is 'associated with sexual abuse in a high proportion of cases,'
and so can be used as evidence. Certain police surgeons disagree. Dr Raine
Roberts from Manchester, writing in the British Medical Journal last year,
said: 'Not only is the measurement impossible to do with any degree of
accuracy, but the hymen dilates and contracts, and can vary, in the same child,
ftom a pinhole to a centimetre, depending on whether she is relaxed or
apprehensive, warm or cold... and because of this, some examiners may well be
finding evidence where there is no abnormality.' [21]
The presence of
this article indicates that, when DSW was preparing its case against Mr and Mrs
C, the department was aware of the controversy surrounding hymen measurements.
But DSW carried on regardless.
Dr Zelas's report wasn't ready by 14 December, so the case was adjourned until
3 February the following year. When it was finally
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heard, Zelas told the court,'... in my opinion Anna has been sexually abused
and her father is the perpetrator.' [22]
Judge McAloon said he was 'particularly impressed with the evidence of Dr Zelas
and Dr Espie... I
must accept in this particular case that sexual abuse has taken place and that
the defendant is responsible for it,' he concluded. Initially, Mr C was allowed
limited access to his daughter. But, when Anna began receiving counselling from
Heather Broadhurst at the Sexual Abuse Therapy and Rehabilitation Team (START),
access was terminated. [23]
Despite the counselling, Anna was unhappy. In 1991 she began running away from
home. In 1992 she began running away from foster homes and living on the
street. Eventually she made her way to her father. In 1993, Mr C applied for
custody of Anna. In 1994, Judge Kean placed her in her father's care and
instructed DSW to leave Mr C and Anna alone unless they approached the
department for help. 'I am living with Dad now and we get on well,' she
reported in 1995. [24]
START, the organisation to which Anna was sent for counselling, was founded in
1987. Its purpose was, and still is, to provide therapy and support for
sexually abused women and children. Signatories to the Application for
Incorporation included Dianne
Espie, three former Ward 24 staff (child and family workers Heather
Broadhurst and Judy Collins, and social worker Fran Erikson), a psychotherapist
from the Child and Family Guidance Centre (Sue Dick), and the paediatrician
husband of a Christchurch Family Court Counselling Coordinator (Terry Caseley).
The woman who would lay the first complaint against Peter Ellis in the Civic
Creche case (Ms Magnolia) and her mother (Grandma Magnolia) were also active in
the organisation. START's solicitor was Jill Pengelly, who served as counsel
for the child in many sexual abuse cases. [25]
START's philosophy included the belief that 'children do not lie about sexual
abuse'. START counsellors based their understanding of sexual abuse on An
analysis of sexual abuse which incorporates the socio-political context in
which abuse occurs, i.e. the patriarchal structure of society.'
In the real world, people send their children for therapy because they want
them to get better, but when children went to START, they normally got worse.
The START information leaflet warned:
Children in therapy can become upset and difficult... Feelings come out
[that can] cause your child to play up, act grumpy, have bad dreams
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and generally be difficult. Seeing your child like this after a session
can cause you to feel really angry at them, at us, at yourself and... might
make you feel like giving up... It's really important at this time to seek the
support of the mother's group... Ending therapy can make you feel better but it
cannot help your child. [26]
According to
START, if the child didn't get better, the mother was to blame. Under the
heading: WILL MY CHILD GET OVER THIS? the leaflet stated:
The most important factor in your child's recovery from sexual abuse is
you, their mother. By believing what your child has said, by not blaming them
and by working hard to be close and loving with them and protecting them from
further abuse, you give them a very good chance of recovery...
To further tighten
START's grip on the mother's fragile self-confidence, the leaflet suggested
that she too would recover memories of sexual abuse. The section headed WHEN
YOU HAVE MEMORIES OF YOUR OWN stated: 'Knowing that your child has been sexually
abused may remind you of similar experiences you had in childhood or
adolescence... SEEK HELP FOR THIS NOW.' [27]
* * *
In mid-1987, Sue
Dick, the Child and Family Guidance Centre (CFGC) therapist who helped
establish START, obtained what was probably
The D children, whose parents were embroiled in an acrimonious marriage
breakup, were referred to CFGC by Women's Refuge. Sue Dick suspected sexual
abuse and, after a two-hour videotaped interview with the girl and a three-hour
videotaped interview with the boy, she confirmed it. The plot thickened when
the girl's comment that she did not like the story with the witch in it
prompted another round of interviews. The children told Dick that their father,
his fiancιe and her 12-year-old daughter dressed up as witches and subjected
the children to indecencies. They talked about a black hat with a purple
pompom, green and pink hair and a blue costume with a red spider on the front.
They said the woman chased them, screaming and yelling, with long false
fingernails outstretched. [28]
These allegations were the police Child Abuse Unit's first multi-offender case.
There was no supporting evidence (no wigs, no costumes, no false fingernails,
no medical evidence), but the investigators hoped
p140 Chapter 4.III "The Place" "A City Possessed" by
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that when Mr D saw the videotapes he would break down and confess. But he
didn't. So they decided to prosecute.
When the prosecutor showed the children around the courtroom they ran amok.
When he asked them what Daddy had done they said nothing had happened. So the
charges were withdrawn, but the aborted prosecution did not go to waste. A few
weeks later, in an article in the Christchurch
Star, the case was used to illustrate the need for law changes to spare
children the stress of appearing in court in person. [29] Following the
article, leaflets were distributed around Mr D's neighbourhood, identifying him
and his fiancee as the deviants in the Star article. After that, the couple
received threatening phone calls and slogans were painted on their shop. [30]
* * *