Woman named in child sex abuse case

AUCKLAND: An Auckland woman who has held senior communications roles with St Cuthbert’s College and the New Zealand Film Commission can now be identified as the defendant in a historical child sex abuse case.

Name suppression lapsed yesterday for Jemma Taylor, five months after the 37yearold was first called to appear at Auckland District Court concerning three allegations she did indecent acts on a girl who was under 12 years old in 2012.

She did not work for the allgirls boarding school at the time of the alleged offending.

Taylor has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Counsel Marie Dyhrberg QC had asked for name suppression for her client and for St Cuthbert’s College, where Taylor was working when the decadeold allegations came to light, to remain in place until the conclusion of her trial.

The request was denied by Auckland District Court Judge Evangelos Thomas following a hearing in June.

Taylor then appealed against that decision to Justice Graham Lang in the High Court at Auckland.

In a reserved judgement released this week, he dismissed the appeal.

A lawyer for St Cuthbert’s College had asked that the school not have name suppression so that the school community could be informed about the situation, including the fact Taylor no longer worked there.

Taylor had previously listed her position at St Cuthbert’s College as senior marketing communications manager. Prior to that, according to her CV, she was an international public relations manager for the New Zealand Film Commission and a media adviser for Tourism New Zealand and held an assignments desk and junior reporter role in TVNZ’s newsroom.

Taylor’s trial is set for next year.