(Childcare worker) Peter Ellis: New Zealand: Satanic ritual abuse case. He died learlier this month - but this is still called New Zealand's case that won't go away...Newsroom's recent interview with investigative reporter Melanie Reid is a good way to get familar with the case... It's headed: We all failed Peter Ellis.:

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: Peter Ellis  was diagnosed with terminal cancer. He died on 4 September 2019 while appealing his conviction of child sexual abuse at the age of 61.

BACKGROUND: "Peter Hugh McGregor Ellis (30 March 1958 – 4 September 2019) was a New Zealand child care worker who was convicted of child sexual abuse. He was at the centre of one of the country's most enduring judicial controversies, after being found guilty in June 1993 in the High Court of New Zealand on 16 counts of sexual offences involving children in his care at the Christchurch Civic Creche and sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment. His conviction has been criticised, with concerns centred on how the children's testimony was obtained and presented to the jury. He maintained his innocence and many New Zealanders supported his calls to overturn the conviction." In July 2019, Ellis was diagnosed with terminal cancer.^[6] He died on 4 September 2019 while appealing his conviction at the age of 61.^[7]
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INTERVIEW: "Melanie Reid: We all failed Peter Ellis,"  by Mark Jennings, Co-Editor of Newsroom. published by Newsroom on September 8, 2019.

PHOTO CAPTION: "Peter Ellis with his mum Leslie. Ellis has always maintained his innocence."

GIST: "The death of Peter Ellis last week had particular significance for Newsroom’s investigations editor, Melanie Reid. Reid was the only reporter to interview the Christchurch child care worker before he was found guilty of sexually abusing children at the Christchurch Civic Creche and sent to jail in the early nineties.

Reid is in no doubt Ellis was innocent. She sits down with Newsroom’s co-editor Mark Jennings to discuss this long-running legal saga and her friend Peter Ellis.

Were you still in touch with Peter?
"The last time I talked to Peter was via text a few weeks ago. I was in hospital in Auckland with a suspected typhoid infection I’d caught in Southern Indonesia and he was in the hospice in Christchurch. He found it quite amusing, I am told that I couldn’t travel down to interview him. The strange unknown infection I had made it too risky for both of us.
I am really upset he has passed and that he went without his name being cleared.
His convictions are a travesty and as an investigative journalist and someone who knew him and the case very well, I feel a sense of shame too that I “should have, could have” spent far more time proving his innocence and hammering away at the system to clear his name.
It is almost as if the legal fraternity, the journalists, the academics and the general public have all just accepted that there has been a massive miscarriage of justice when it comes to Peter Ellis, yet we have just let it sit there for decades. Does it take poor old Peter Ellis to die before it is finally addressed? How did it just slip away and become a great big ugly hole in our legal history?

When did you first meet Peter Ellis?
It was just after he was charged in 1992. I was a young reporter working at TV3 in Christchurch. Peter Ellis dominated my world throughout the nineties. The ‘Civic Creche Case’ as it became known was a sensational story that gripped the city, the country and received international coverage.
I also got to know the four women daycare workers who were originally charged along with Peter. The allegations against them were patently ridiculous and were eventually dropped before going to trial. Peter wasn’t so lucky, he was very flamboyant and could be wildly theatrical. I think his effervescent nature made him a target.
So leading up to his trial, there’d been a year of media coverage, more than 50 child evidential interviews, 40 families had by then been awarded $10,000 from ACC for allegedly being victims of abuse. The police child abuse unit was in full swing and the momentum against Ellis was building. It very much felt like a runaway train and there was no stopping it, despite how ludicrous some of the allegations were and how flimsy the evidence.
Peter, quite rightly, was wary of trusting anyone during this ordeal but over time we got to know each other well.
It’s been over 25 years of letters, texts and phone calls. I grew very fond of Peter Ellis, he taught me a lot about forgiveness, human decency and courage.
More than anyone I have ever met he displayed incredible strength to stand for his truth.
When he was on trial he would always walk up the street, on his own, or sometimes with his mother, with his head held high. He would never make any attempt to avoid the cameras.
There’s a television interview I did with him in 1993, that same clip has been played over and over for nearly 30 years.
Ellis: “Something went wrong and it's nothing to do with the sexual abuse of children.”
Me: “What's it to do with?”
Ellis “It's to do with people who decided it happened ... the police, the social welfare ..."
Me: ”There are a lot of people ... who are convinced you abused their children.”
Ellis: “Probably for a long time they will. I hope one day they are actually going to say, ‘Hello Peter, can you tell me did we get it wrong?’ And I’ll tell them they got it wrong, because it didn’t happen.”

Did they get it wrong?
Yes, no question. I have covered lots of big cases as a reporter and I have been unsure whether the person was innocent or guilty. But in Peter’s case I have no doubt that he was innocent, no doubt at all.
I have spent a lot of time with some of the child complainants who are now all grown up. They’ve told me in no uncertain terms that they made it up and how they were coerced as little kids into the whole saga.
One of the complainants even admitted [at the time] that she had made up evidence but when that evidence was given to to the court of appeal, the “expert authorities” said the girl was “in denial”.
Then in 1997 I did a major investigation into the lead detective on the creche case, Colin Eade.
We revealed that Eade had displayed signs of obsessional behaviour, and during the investigation senior police were so concerned over his mental state they sought advice from a psychologist. During the investigation he was diagnosed as having a number of mental health issues. The story also revealed that he had propositioned a former creche mother during the inquiry and had sexual relationships with two other mothers after the trial. He also had an affair with a Department of Social Welfare employee involved in the case.
The story caused outrage among complainant parents, CYF and the Police Association. Six months later Eade would be cleared following an internal police investigation.
When you look back at the evidential interviews that led to Peter Ellis’ conviction they are so bad - it is embarrassing.
For example, he was found guilty of being party to an offence that an unknown man molested a child at an unknown address, on an unknown date.

Back in the 90s you were the only journalist to interview Peter - how did that come about?
Peter is a very loyal person and I spent a lot of time with him before he eventually did these interviews. In short, he chose me, he got to know me and trusted me.
I interviewed him three times during his three-month trial. We did the interviews in secret because we didn’t want to impact his bail conditions or do anything that would be negative to his chances of a fair trial.
I became good friends with him, and I would often go to his house and drink cheap sherry with him on Friday nights after long weeks spent in court.
These were very tough times for Peter. He had no income and not much support, although his mother was a rock. Despite what was going on, Peter never lost his sense of humour,
He was so funny, so entertaining. He loved animals and had lots of them. The Friday nights I spent with him still rate as some of the most entertaining nights I have ever had.

In your interviews with Peter Ellis he never showed any animosity towards the kids and families whose evidence convicted him. Did you find that strange?
No, it was the sort of person Peter was. He was always adamant that the kids and the parents involved in the case against him were all just victims of the frenzy that had taken hold of police, psychiatrists and social workers. He felt no malice and that the children must be protected all costs.

Did you have contact with him when he was in prison?
Yes. Normally someone like Peter would be lucky to survive prison but I think he was sort of protected because nobody really believed he was guilty, not the inmates and not the prison guards. He spent most of his time in prison trying to help other prisoners.
He dominated many of my Christmases once he was in jail. Under his strict instructions he had me supplying Christmas presents, hundreds of them, for the male inmates at Paparoa to give to their kids. He could not bear the fact that these men who were locked up could not give their kids a gift at Christmas, so I was given clear instructions about ages and genders. It still sticks in my mind, 17 two and three-year-old girls, 18 five -six-year-old boys and so on. I would then enlist everyone in the TV3 newsroom to help me buy and wrap the presents.
Then there were books and newspapers I had to get organised for the library he was setting up inside.

Peter could’ve got out of prison sooner if he had admitted guilt, did you ever discuss this with him?
Yes. He could’ve got out much earlier but that would have been against everything he stood for. When I put it to him he hissed at me.
“Are you insane ... why on earth would I say I‘m guilty Melanie when I am not.”
When Peter Ellis was released from prison, 19 years ago in February of 2000, this is what he said at a press conference.
“I do not intend to stop until my name is cleared and the truth is out for everyone’s sake, including the children.”

It is a case that has never really gone away, has it? 
 There were two unsuccessful appeals through the late 90s, and in 2000 we had a ministerial inquiry led by former chief justice Sir Thomas Eichelbaum ... a year later it concluded with: “I have found nothing like a borderline judgment." Another fail for Peter Ellis.
To quote author Lynley Hood from her book A City Possessed: “To many involved in the debate, Sir Thomas Eichelbaum’s ringing endorsement of the conviction of Peter Ellis seemed like an attempt to bury the debate instead of facing up to it.”
For those of us who have followed this case for nearly three decades, what would be more on point would be to have an inquiry into the misconduct of officials that actually led to the Christchurch Civic Creche case and the prosecution and conviction of Peter Ellis.

The entire story can be read at:

https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2019/09/07/794705/melanie-reid-we-all-failed-peter-ellis

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WIKIPEDIA ENTRY: GIST: 

Second police investigation:

 Even though police concluded no abuse had occurred, some parents started asking their children about what went on at the creche and then shared these stories with other parents. The Department of Social Welfare was called in to conduct formal interviews with many of these children. A social welfare psychologist, Sue Sidey, initially revealed that there were six children for whom she felt there were grounds for concern, although the children made no disclosures of any indecent touching by a creche staff member. More parents became concerned that something must have happened. As the social welfare interviews continued, claims about bizarre sexual abuse incidents began to surface.^[9] A meeting was held at the creche attended by staff members, a group of concerned parents and representatives from the Social Welfare Department. In response, the police reopened their investigation.^[14 Altogether, at least 127 children were interviewed. Some detectives believed that up to 80 had been abused.^[13]

Smart report:

In addition to interviews conducted by Sue Sidey, the Christchurch City Council, which owned the creche, requested that psychologist and sex therapist Rosemary Smart review the management practices at the creche. Even though Smart's report was completed nearly 12 months before Ellis' trial, she seems to have assumed he was guilty;^[13] although the word "alleged" crops up occasionally in her report, severely incriminating circumstantial evidence is presented as factual.^[16]
Smart even suggested that female staff may have been involved with abuse at the Civic Creche and her report helped convince investigating officers of the women's guilt. She quoted research by the New Hampshire sociologist David Finkelhor, whose 1987 book, Nursery Crimes, became the source for American believers in ritual abuse occurring in creches.^[17] Finkelhor's work has since been discredited.^[13]

Arrest of four female staff:

Smart's report was completed in July 1992 and a copy was given to police. Detectives said her report was central to their decision to investigate four of Ellis's female colleagues at the creche. Their houses were searched for everything from pornography to babies bodies. Nothing was found.^[13] Even Ellis' mother was suspected of being involved and accused of administering drugs to the children.^[8]
The four female staff members were arrested on 1 October 1992 amid considerable televised publicity. At depositions they faced 15 charges that included sexual violation, indecent assault and one charge of performing an indecent act (having sex with Ellis) in a public place. The charges were subsequently dropped when Judge Williamson concluded the publicity meant their chances of a fair trial would be prejudiced by their association with Ellis.^[13] Although the charges were dropped, their careers were ruined.^[9]

Accusations:

Ellis was accused, among other things, of "sodomising children, forcing them to eat his faeces, urinating on them, suspending them in cages, taking them on terrifying trips of abuse through tunnels, ceilings and trapdoors". Other allegations included children being forced into a steaming hot oven or buried in coffins; one boy claimed he had his belly-button removed with pliers.^[18] Allegations which emerged later as the interviews progressed included "Asian men dressed as cowboys, Masonic lodges, cemeteries, the Park Royal Hotel and private houses far from the creche ... (and) the notorious 'circle incident' where Ellis and his co-workers supposedly took a group of children to 404 Hereford St on the other side of town and made them stand naked and kick each other while the adults danced around them ... Alleged by one parent, was the sacrifice of a boy called Andrew." No child was actually reported missing by anyone involved.^[13]

Moral panic:

In the years preceding the first allegation of abuse against Ellis, there had been a number of high profile child abuse cases in Christchurch involving "highly suspect interviews of children", "mistaken mass diagnosis of children" and other "highly questionable claims". The case has also been linked with the day-care sex-abuse hysteria, a moral panic that originated out of California in 1982 and that existed throughout the 1980s.^[13] It has also been cited as a major cause in the decline in the number of male teachers in New Zealand schools.^[3]From September 1991 (two months before the first allegation against Ellis), there was "continuous publicity of sexual abuse and ritual abuse of children in the local press or in national media... " On 4 September 1991, a Wellington sex abuse counsellor, Anne-Marie Stapp, told the Christchurch daily, The Press, that "New Zealand was fast approaching the level of ritual abuse awareness found in the United States." North and South Magazine reported that it was common knowledge around town that "various Christchurch police officers were hunting for a near mythical pornography-paedophile ring alleged to involve judges, Freemasons and prominent businessmen, though it was never found." On 3 November 1991 the Sunday News quoted the police as saying that "Satanism was rampant in New Zealand and linked to child pornography."^[13] Seventeen days later, a Christchurch mother rang Gaye Davidson, the supervisor at the Civic creche to make the first complaint about Peter Ellis.^[13] When making his appeal to the Supreme Court announced in July 2019, Ellis' former lawyer, Nigel Hampton QC, said he wants the Supreme Court to take the moral panic of the '90s into account in its decision-making.^["

 
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Ellis_(childcare_worker)

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic"  section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com.  Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;

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