Ellis appeal backed by male teacher advocates

The ramifications of the Peter Ellis civic creche case are still felt today and have been labelled a ‘‘travesty to society’’ by the head of a lobby group supporting men in early childhood education.

Men in Early Childhood Network NZ president Russell Ballantyne said Ellis had his backing in trying to clear his name, 26 years after being found guilty of sexually abusing seven children in his care at the Christchurch Civic Creche. Ellis was sentenced to 10 years in jail. He served seven and was released in 2000, and has always maintained his innocence.

The 61-year-old has been given just months to live after a bladder cancer diagnosis and has taken his convictions to the Supreme Court on the grounds that new evidence undermines the reliability of the children’s accusations against him.

The Supreme Court has given Ellis leave to appeal, however, the case cannot continue if he dies.

Ballantyne said the Ellis case has had wide-reaching ramifications for many aspects of life in New Zealand.

‘‘I just feel for that guy. I think he’s had an incredibly horrendous life. I don’t think it’s been fair. It put us back another 50 years when men were absent.’’

Ballantyne said he ‘‘absolutely’’ knew of men who had left the early childhood sector following coverage of the case in the 1990s. ‘‘It wasn’t just in early childhood. Grandparents stopped bathing their grandchildren ... stopped talking to kids up the street,’’ he said.

‘‘That really had a huge social impact on New Zealand and that put us back many, many years ... What a travesty to New Zealand society this has been.’’

Ballantyne said the sector took more than a decade to recover, and even now, it was still only growing slowly.

About 750 men work in early childcare in New Zealand, making up about 3 per cent of the overall workforce. Ballantyne said some men were still hesitant to enter the industry due to the stigma.

‘‘As you get older you realise how short life is and [Ellis has] been done a huge disservice. But not just him, men in New Zealand have.’’

Ballantyne, 59, runs Early Childhood on Stafford in Dunedin, where five of the 12 staff are men. He believes one positive thing that came out of the Ellis case was that it made centres look at their protocols.

‘‘But we still have situations where guys sometimes are asked by management not to touch children. It’s too risky and we respond by saying if it’s risky for the guys, it’s risky for the girls as well. Let’s remember both genders abuse,’’ he said. ‘‘Any abuse is not to be tolerated, but centres with good policies and good supervision, your children are going to be a lot safer with us than they are in some homes.’’

‘‘That really had a huge social impact . . . What a travesty to New Zealand society this has been.’’