Investigations
The case began in November 1991 when a mother, who was a sexual abuse counsellor and self-diagnosed victim of sexual abuse, allegedly heard her four-year-old son say that he "didn't like Peter's black penis." Ellis was placed on leave subject to an internal investigation. When formally interviewed by the Department of Social Welfare the boy, and five other children suspected of having been abused, made no disclosures of sexual abuse. No charges were laid. The boy who made the original complaint was moved to another creche where his mother again accused a male creche worker of sexually abusing her son. No charges were laid.
In December 1991, Detective Colin Eade advised the creche's employer, the Christchurch City Council, about the allegations. Eade wrote: "To date there have been no disclosures of any sort of indecent touching by any person employed at the Child Care centre…he reasons the parents, Ms Sidey and myself were so concerned at the start of this enquiry, were that the children were displaying some behaviour that we often attribute to sexual abuse". Later in his letter Eade said the children who were interviewed by Sidey had a "general fear" of Ellis and this fear “may affect their behaviour for some time to come.” He commented that it was clear to him that Ellis “should not be involved in any way in the supervision or care of children. I believe that we were very lucky to have this brought to our attention at this stage. If he had continued on at the Centre, things could have got worse”. At that stage, Eade had not interviewed Peter Ellis. Eade had no expertise in early childhood education.
While the initial police investigation into the creche had officially concluded, children continued to be formally interviewed. Department of Social welfare evidential interviewer, Sue Sidey, testified at trial that she conducted interviews throughout January 1992. "Thereafter I continued interviewing those children whose parents had concerns". Detective Eade was on leave during January 1992. As soon as he returned to work, Eade was advised that a child, who had not attended the creche, had disclosed sexual abuse. A new investigation then began into allegations of sexual abuse at the Civic Creche. When, over ten months later, this investigation had concluded, police believed at least ten offenders had sexually abused children at the Civic Crèche and eighty children were involved.
In March 1992, the police arranged for a meeting of parents whose children had attended the creche. This was the second time that parents had publicly met to discuss their concerns about the possible sexual abuse of children. The Christchurch City Council sent a letter to every parent whose child had attended the creche during the period of Ellis’ employment. The letter informed parents that a meeting was to be held in the hall of the Knox church on 31 March 1992. The letter advised parents not to speak to their children about the police investigation. The letter said such advice did not apply to any parent who was “already aware of the circumstances or has already been in contact with the Police”. The letter stated that a psychologist "dealing with persons who offend against children" would be present at the meeting, and information from the Accident Compensation Commission would be available. At the time the letter was sent, police had not interviewed Ellis or other creche workers. The police arrested Ellis on 30 March and newspapers reported the arrest the following morning, the day of the parents' meeting.
During the depositions hearing into the charges against Ellis, Sue Sidey said she might have told parents at the meeting that some of the indicators of sexual abuse were bedwetting, tantrums and nightmares. Sidey's supervisor, psychiatrist Karen Zelas, testified at trial that there are behavioural factors, which the crèche complainants allegedly exhibited, that are "consistent with" sexual abuse. Bedwetting, nightmares, anxiety, stomach aches were all, she said, consistent with sexual abuse. She did not say that the complainants had been sexually abused, or that she believed they had been abused.
Read more about this topic: Peter Hugh Mc Gregor Ellis