Ellis appeal must still be heard

Ellis’ flamboyance and homosexuality counted against him.

Peter Ellis, who died this week aged 61, lived almost half of his life under the shadow of bizarre and improbable sexual abuse allegations that he strenuously denied and that fewer and fewer people continued to believe. But tragically he died before he had a final chance to clear his name.

It was reported in late July that Ellis had just three months left to live. It turned out to be only half that time.

Ellis will now be remembered by many as a martyr to an ideological trend or moral panic that swept the Western World in the 1980s and early 1990s. Like most of the best and worst ideas, the trend began in California, where childcare workers were accused of organising vast and terrifying sexual abuse networks. Touring experts promoted dubious interview techniques and encouraged parents to look for signs of abuse in their own children.

It was within that global context that events unfolded at the Christchurch Civic Creche, where Ellis was only one of several childcare workers accused of gruesome, ritualised sexual acts with children. But charges against the other workers, who were all women, were dropped and the more preposterous of the allegations pruned from the case before it went to court.

Ellis’ flamboyance and homosexuality counted against him. Graeme Lee, who at the time was Minister of Internal Affairs in a National Government, claimed there was a direct link between the ‘‘unnatural behaviour’’ of homosexuality and paedophilia.

Society has evolved and the thinking that fed the ‘‘Satanic’’ panic in childcare centres has long since been discredited. In other landmark

childcare cases from the period, such as in Martensville, Canada, or Wanatchee, Washington, the alleged offenders have been cleared and usually compensated. In Wanatchee, a couple who were among 43 adults arrested on nearly 30,000 charges against 60 children were awarded US$3 million in compensation just six years later. Compare that to the 26 years that have passed since Ellis was convicted.

Ellis’ last roll of the dice was to appeal to the Supreme Court on the grounds that new evidence undermined the reliability of accusations made by children in the early 1990s. That new evidence stemmed from University of Otago research by a group including university vice-chancellor Harlene Hayne and former law school dean Mark Henaghan. While there have been previous appeals, the new evidence suggests a leap forward in the scientific assessment of evidence and dated interview techniques.

The Supreme Court duly granted Ellis leave and his appeal was scheduled to be heard from November 11 to 14. The convention in New Zealand is that the appeal dies with the appellant. However, it seems fundamental to the integrity of our justice system that Ellis’ appeal is not allowed to die with him. The Supreme Court hearing must continue as planned.

It will obviously be too late for Ellis to see his name cleared, if that is indeed the verdict, but there are other victims in this case.

There were six children who have since grown into adulthood whose evidence helped convict Ellis. It is likely that most or all of them still believe they suffered the abuse they described in interviews nearly 30 years ago. They have also earned the right to learn the truth.