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Child sex abuse
hysteria and the Ellis case |
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Sir Thomas Thorp's report on
wrongful convictions is most welcome. Wrongful convictions readily arise in
cases of a sexual nature where the prosecution relies on the uncorroborated
word of a complainant. Some complaints are decades old, when no other
evidence could possibly be available. They often rely on "recovered
memories" or "delayed recall" and other deceptions. There are
plenty of examples. For ideological purposes, the
Evidence Act was amended to remove the need for corroborative evidence in
these cases, and to allow so-called "expert witnesses" to misguide
juries as to childhood and adult behaviours after alleged sexual abuse. The
Peter Ellis case is the foremost example of this. Other protections were also
introduced for complainants. It is time to dismantle them, return to common
sense, and demand genuine evidence. A statute of limitation is justifiable. Related matters also need
attention. Without investigation, testable evidence or trial, tens of
thousands of men have been wrongly "convicted" of sexual abuse by
ACC and its counsellors, and hundreds of millions of dollars paid in
unwarranted compensation. ACC compensation should not be available unless a
rightful conviction has been obtained. |
