Peter
Ellis Org :
The
Inquisition - The Inquisitors - Professional Botchups
Prue Vincent,
Ms Prue Vincent, once head of Social Welfare's
psychologists team, and who regularly works for the Department of Child, Youth and
Family Services… was fined and censured for botching a sex abuse investigation
that left a man wrongly accused of molesting his young children
Last updated March 5, 2005
2002-0109 - Marlborough
Express - Abuse of compensation
Editorial - There are very real problems in accepting the advice of counsellors who
are treating those claiming sexual abuse. Not unnaturally, counsellors tend to
be very sympathetic to their patients, who in most cases are indeed victims.
But not always so. A leading child psychologist was fined and censured last
November for botching a sex abuse investigation that left a man wrongly accused
of molesting his young children. Prue Vincent had pleaded guilty to
charges of conduct unbecoming after allowing the mother to be present at
interviews with the children, using leading questions, accepting the mother's
testimony "without question", not interviewing the father as a
reference source.
2001-1217 - Nelson Mail - A
welcome step
Editorial - The Medical Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal is open, allowing the
public to know about doctors who have been found guilty of misconduct. Others,
such as the Psychologists Board, are able to hold hearings in private and keep
the identities of practitioners in trouble to themselves. This is exactly what
happened in the case of a
2001-1215 - Dominion - Public
trials for medical misconduct
by
Leah Haines - Doctors, nurses and other health professionals facing misconduct
charges will be tried in public and if found guilty named, Health Minister
Annette King says. …"The bill aims to ensure transparency of registration
and disciplinary processes, so the public can be assured (they) are fair and
just and not subject to professional bias," Mrs King said. The
transparency of such disciplinary hearings has been an issue for years and has
been particularly highlighted by two cases in the past three weeks. Last month,
The Dominion revealed that Prue Vincent, a top
2001-1215 - One News
- Tough moves on medical misconduct
There
are moves to force doctors and nurses accused of medical misconduct into the
public eye. They would be tried in public and named if found guilty. The
planned law change aims to reassure New Zealanders that medical discipline is
fair, but it has its critics. Doctors accused of making mistakes can end up in
front of the medical practitioners' disciplinary tribunal, and their cases are
now usually heard in public. But other health professionals are still
disciplined behind closed doors. A recent example is psychologist Prue
Vincent - disciplined in private and allowed to keep practising - after
bungling a child sex abuse case
2001-1215 - The Herald
- Psychology Standards
page A22 by Gordon Waugh - The botched inquiry by psychologist Prue
Vincent (Dec 4) into a sex abuse case is just one of many. She has
destroyed an entire family, yet is merely fined lightly and censured. The
Psychologists Board could de-register her but, as it has shown in the past, it
lacks the courage to act. That she is still allowed to practice is scandalous.
Her methods and findings are typical of the sex abuse industry. Confirm this by
remembering the Peter Ellis case, the tens of thousands of ACC claimants, men
wrongly denied access to families, and the man to whom we recently paid over
half a million dollars in compensation for wrongful conviction.
2001-1212 -
Dominion - Botched Inquiry Result Typical
page 16 by Gordon Waugh - The botched sex abuse
inquiry by psychologist Prue Vincent illustrates a typical
result by self-appointed "sex abuse experts". Their claims of
"expert" status, privilege and confidentiality, are untenable. No-one
gave them the right, privilege or authority to decide who wears the loathsome
label of "sex abuser". Their fatally flawed methods lead directly to
false conclusions. In my opinion, the charges to which she pleaded guilty
demonstrate monumental, but not untypical, incompetence. The Psychologists
Board could de-register her but, as it has shown in the past, it lacks the
courage to act, thereby condemning itself. That she is still allowed to
practice is scandalous.
2001-1206 -
Ind Newspapers - Disgrace Prue Vincent Can Practice
Feedback by Paul Holdsworth - It is a disgrace to her profession that Prue
Vincent can continue to practise and was not given a realistic
punishment or censure from the Pyschologists Board. It would appear from the
article that the board is made up of an "old boys club" and it would
be interesting to know if any were affiliated or knew of Ms Vincent.
2001-1206 - Ind
Newspapers - Vincent not Suited to work on Sex Abuse
Feedback by Diane Kennedy - Ms Vincent should have been
made to pay the courts costs of the father and limits of where she can work
should have been put in place. It is obvious that she is not suited to work on
sex abuse cases, as she does not have any idea on how to conduct cases. Do
these people never learn that there are right and wrong ways to go about these
enquiries?
2001-1206 - Ind
Newspapers - Vincent Self Aggrandising Career Busybody
Feedback by Peter Barrett - Life in a social femocracy - we've had twenty years
of this stuff. To say you've had a gutsful makes you sound like an ACT-voter
from the sticks, which I'm not. But self-aggrandising careerist busybodies like Prue
Vincent drive us all spare. Preventing harm to kids? Please!
2001-1206
- Ind Newspapers - Methodology similar to that used against Ellis
Feedback by Kathleen Murdoch - I suggest that the (flawed) methodology used by Prue
Vincent to destroy the family relationship of an innocent man is
similar to that used by police et al to bring charges against Peter Ellis,
whose conviction is still problematic
2001-1206
- Ind Newspapers - Techniques same as at Creche
Feedback by Carolyn Lewis - Isn't it interesting that many of the techniques
that Prue
Vincent used during her interviews, and has since been disciplined for,
are the same as those described by Lynley Hood in her book on the Christchurch
Civic Creche Case? If these techniques are now discredited, it seems to me that
the Civic Creche Case needs to be revisited - yet again - with a wider term of
reference which allows a look at how evidence was obtained from the children
involved
2001-1206 - Dominion - Abuse
issues
Letter
to the Editor by Marian Kleist - While having no wish to debate the details of
the Prue
Vincent case (November 4) I do feel moved to make some comments with
regard to the general issues that the article gives rise to…….We are aware that
when dealing with issues of abuse in children situations are far from
straightforward.
2001-1206 - Dominion - Vincent
may face review of position
by
Leah Haines - Family Court guidelines for psychologists, which list a book by Prue
Vincent as recommended reading, could see her position with the court
reviewed, the Courts Department has confirmed. Ms Vincent, named this week as
having botched a sexual abuse investigation involving a father, co-wrote the
Practice of Psychology and the Law -- the only recommended text listed in new
guidelines for Family Court psychologists
2001-1205 - Stuff - Double standard
by
Tony Stockdale - Re: Censured psychologist allowed to keep practicing. Why
should errant surgeons and pathologists be castigated, while errant
psychiatrists (sic) seem immune to such censures?
2001-1205 - Stuff - Tip of the Iceberg
by
Ed Hitchcock - The Prue Vincent case is the tip of the iceberg. Many psychologists
now avoid Family Court work because of the risk of complaint - often
unjustified. Because of that the standard of court-appointed specialists is (I
think) falling
2001-1205 - FARE - Psychologists'
Misconduct is Common Occurrence
"Families Apart Require Equality" Press Release by Darryl Ward - "The
serious misconduct of senior psychologist Prue Vincent, who appears to have
convinced a child that they had been sexually abused by their father when they
had not, is nothing new and is indeed a common occurrence in the psychological
'profession'", Familes Apart Require Equality (FARE) spokes person Darryl
Ward said today.
2001-1205 -
Wairarapa Times Age - Vincent works in Wairarapa
The
psychologist at the centre of a botched sex abuse investigation has been
practising in Masterton for at least 10 years. Prue Vincent, who shares
office space with Masterton lawyer Ken Daniells, is based in
2001-1205 - The Press - I am not to
blame, says psychologist
NZPA - A psychologist who was fined and censured for her role in a sex abuse
case said she should not be blamed for a decision made by the courts.
2001-1205 - Dominion - King calls
for secrecy briefing
by Leah Haines - Health Minister Annette King has asked ministry officials to brief her
on the secrecy of the Psychologists Board after it planned not to publish that
a top psychologist had botched a sex abuse investigation. And the former head
of the board, Barry Parsonson, and an international expert in child
suggestibility, Maryanne Garry, have cast doubt on the ability of other
psychologists working in the Family Court system. Last month,
2001-1205 - Dominion -
Open Courts Breed Justice
Opinion, Editorial - Seldom has the case for doing justice in public
been more convincingly illustrated than with the father wrongly accused of
sexually abusing his children, deprived of all contact with them, and
continually frustrated in his efforts to redress a monstrous wrong. It also
encapsulates an injustice which is likely to be continually repeated as a
result of the statutory secrecy of the Family Court. The man, whose story
featured in The Dominion yesterday, became the victim of his former wife's
accusations and the flawed "professional" services of psychologist Prue
Vincent.
2001-1205 -
Dominion - Prue Vincent Issues Statement
Public Statement by Prue Vincent - The father is mistaken in believing that I am
responsible for his situation. Decisions about the best interests of the
children were made by the Family Court in a series of hearings between 1994 and
1999. I was involved in two of those hearings. Evidence of the father, mother
and children was presented by a wide range of people including other
professionals. At all times my approach was scrutinised by the court, and was
the subject of rigorous cross-examination at the hearings. This is the normal
process.
2001-1204 - Waikato
Times - Psychologist works on
NZPA - Top Wellington psychologist Prue Vincent, who admitted charges
of conduct unbecoming and was fined and censured for botching a sex abuse
investigation that left a man wrongly accused of molesting his young children
when she appeared before the Psychologists Board on November 12, has been
allowed to keep practising
2001-1204 - The Press -
Psychologist still working
NZPA - A top psychologist who was fined and censured for botching a sex abuse
investigation that left a man wrongly accused of molesting his young children
has been allowed to keep practising.
2001-1204 - One
News - Psychologist gets abuse case wrong
A
father's eight year battle against child abuse allegations has ended, but he is
still not allowed to see his children. The psychologist who made the claims has
been fined $5,000 after pleading guilty to charges of conduct unbecoming. Prue
Vincent of
Allowing the children's mother to be present at their interviews, Asking
leading questions, Not interviewing the father, Interviewing the children too many
times.
2001-1204 - Act
Party - Inquiry needed into Family Court
Press Release by Dr Muriel Newman - The case of a father cut off from his
children because of the injustice of the Family Court and the actions of a
child psychologist has prompted ACT Social Welfare Spokesman Dr Muriel Newman
to renew her call for a comprehensive inquiry into the Family Court. "The
2001-1204 - Radio
NZ - Kim Hill Interviews Barry Parsonson
Transcript of Interview with reference to Botched Inquiry into Sex Abuse
2001-1204 - Dominion -
Give me back my children
Features Story by Leah Haines - Leah Haines talks to a father cut off from
his young family after accusations of sexual abuse ….Some years ago, with no
warning, his ex-wife accused him of sexually abusing their children. With no
evidence that he had, and at a time when his young children still loved and
wanted to see him, he was shut out of their lives. He has never been convicted
of abuse or even charged – despite police investigation. He was never told what
horrible things he was supposed to have done to his children and, since
Father's Day many years ago, has never seen his children again. Five times he
has battled in the Family Court to get access to them. It has cost him $82,000
and each time he has failed.
2001-1204 -
Dominion - Botched Inquiry Into Sex Abuse
Top Story by Leah Haines - A top psychologist who was
fined and censured for botching a sex abuse investigation that left a man
wrongly accused of molesting his young children has been allowed to keep
practising. ….Ms Prue Vincent, once head of Social Welfare's psychologists
team, and who regularly works for the Department of Child, Youth and Family
Services…pleaded guilty to charges of conduct unbecoming on the basis she:
§
Allowed the mother to be
present at interviews with the children.
§
Interviewed the children
together.
§
Used books dealing with
sexual abuse during her assessment.
§
Used leading questions
during the interviews.
§
Did not observe the
children in their wider environment or with their father.
§
Did not interview the
father as a reference source.
§
Did not consider other
explanations for the children's behaviour.
§
Accepted "without
question" the mother's testimony while asking the father to put his
rebuttals in writing.
§
She also failed to
"make a transition in methodology" from her initial role as an
assessor with Child, Youth and Family to that of a court-appointed psychologist
during access hearings.
2001-1204 -
Dominion - Gag Lifted
This
is the story a top health professional tried to stop The Dominion from
publishing. Last week, Prue Vincent won an interim injunction
preventing us publishing any details. Justice Ellis discharged the injunction
yesterday after Ms Vincent abandoned her appeal and agreed to pay some of The
Dominion's costs.