Talk:Peter Hugh McGregor Ellis/Archive1

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Peter Ellis (New Zealand)

Nominated on 22 April 2006, needs 2 votes by 30 April 2006

This is the guy who was convicted on child sexual assault charges in 1993. He was released after serving seven years in prison, and has always maintained his innocence. It's topical because he's still pushing for a Privy Council hearing. Many New Zealanders believe he was innocent, and his name is very well known, but we currently have no article at all. To create a good article, we'll need a number of editors from different points of view working together.-gadfium 05:57, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

Support as nominator.-gadfium 05:57, 22 April 2006 (UTC)
Support; I would have thought we would of had an article of him, his case is well known Brian | (Talk) 07:24, 22 April 2006 (UTC)
Support; agree with all the above reasons. However I wonder if this is the best title. A quick Google search found a couple of other possibly notable NZers with the same name; a Kapiti District councillor [1] and a professor at the Wellington School of Medicine (aka Pete Ellis) [2]. -- Avenue 07:58, 22 April 2006 (UTC)
- The title is certainly up for negotiation. Obviously a title such as "Peter Ellis (pedophile)" would not be suitable, nor would "Peter Ellis (hysteria victim)".-gadfium 09:37, 22 April 2006 (UTC)
  - I take it "Peter Ellis (witch hunt martyr)" is out as well then. (support, BTW). Grutness...wha? 10:14, 22 April 2006 (UTC)
    - How about "Peter Hugh Ellis" or "Peter Hugh McGregor Ellis" as an article title. No one is going to search for that, but no one is going to search for any of these article names; they'll find Peter Ellis and follow the link from that.-gadfium 08:24, 24 April 2006 (UTC)
Support, sounds like a good start, no idea on title. - SimonLyall 12:25, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

I propose that we start this, this Sunday (23 April) (i.e. End voting Sunday, Make this The COTF from Monday) What do you think ? Brian | (Talk) 13:01, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

Sounds grand, although I'm a bit disappointed there have been no other nominations. I'll be away until Monday night (going to a wedding in Queenstown), so I look forward to seeing the start of an article when I get back.-gadfium 19:02, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

Weblinks

I have done some quick google searches, and have come up with some links we could use:

[3] Ten or so articles, mostly media items, contains alot of background on the case
[4] Offical Report - Sir Thomas Eichelbaum's report into the peter ellis case
[5] Info, histoty, background.
[6] Peter Ellis Org : Seeking Justice for Peter Ellis

Links to thousands of web pages about Peter Ellis and the Christchurch Creche case

[7] Essential preliminary reading about the Ellis case
[8] Thousands of news reports (including opinion articles) year by year to 2006
[9] Official Documents, letters, petitions etc relating to the Ellis case year by year, Some trial transcripts (more will be coming), The Thorp Report, Eichelbaum report etc.
[10] The toddler testimonies - transcripts of the interrogations of the children.
[11] [12] lots of info on the case
[13] info, media stuff, calls for 1999 inquiry.
[14] BSA upholds Nine to Noon complaint
[[15] ASAH news letter, has an article on the case (PDF)
[[16] info about Drawing Out Children’s False Memories, refers to the case (PDF)
[17] intresting little article
[18] media
[19] media
[20] media
[21] media
[22] [23] blog
[24] Book review- but has some basic info
[25] Dozens more book reviews

Could someone with abit of know-how remove the quotation marks fromthe following reference: London, Kamala, Maggie Bruck, Stephen J. Ceci, and Daniel W. Shuman (2005). "Disclosure of Child Sexual Abuse: What Does the Research Tell Us About the Ways That Children Tell? Psychology, Public Policy and the Law" 11 (1): 194-226

I've moved the journal title to its own field in the template. Is that what you wanted? See {{cite journal}} (doc/talk) for details of how this template works.-gadfium 04:32, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Rename

I would like to rename the article Peter Hugh McGregor Ellis, as suggested by gadfium above. Does anyone object? -- Avenue 11:50, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

Go ahead :) (I just stared it, as Peter Ellis (New Zealand) untill we came up with a better title) Brian | (Talk) 16:45, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

Thomas Eichelbaum

People might want to have a look at this related article. I'm not sure it is strightly NPOV. - SimonLyall 23:11, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

I have moved most of the recent additions to that article by Nz researcher into this article, because I think this would be a better place for them. -- Avenue 00:11, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

I've already reverted User:Nz researcher twice in this article and he just keeps putting the POV stuff back. no luck with geting him to respond on his talk page or anything. Thoughts? - SimonLyall 01:35, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

My feeling is User:Nz researcher is a mask for someone pushing a certain POV, but unwilling to do it under their normal user ID. At the moment the article is being looked at enough to be fine, but I'm more worried about when the article is no longer the Collaboration. People will need to keep a watch on it. We don't want this article getting to be POV. --Midnight tonight 10:01, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

I have already responded to this on the discussion page. NZ Researcher is my normal user ID, so I have no idea what you are referring to. --NZ Researcher

Great

The article has taken shape, well done to everyone who has partook in it so far. Nice to see what can happen when a whole lot of kiwis work together :) Brian | (Talk) 01:00, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

<Test>, I would like to participate in this article via this discussion , I have joined wikipedia and given my email. Another site for source material, especially psychological considerations of the ellis case is:

http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/r.christie/

Can a current contributer to article contact me by email as to how I should access this discussion in more usual manner. Thanks,

Richard Christie

Welcome Richard. I have put a message on your user talk page, so you should see a "You have new messages" sign near the top of your screen until you click on the sign.-gadfium 08:41, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

add?

Should we add, about that $300,000 was paid out by ACC to the victims before the case went to trial? (NB it was a total payout of $300,000)Brian | (Talk) 02:05, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

If we can cite a source for the information, I don't see any great problem with that. It seems arguably relevant. It would be even better if we could cite someone discussing it in connection to the case, so that we are not seen as casting new aspersions on people's motives. -- Avenue 03:02, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

Found a site [26] quote: "Up to $10,000 can be awarded in sexual abuse cases and the Accident Compensation Commission paid $300,000 to crèche parents before the trial" Brian | (Talk) 05:40, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

Brian, I've cited David McLoughlin's work. He mentions a figure in excess of $500,000. User:NZ Researcher

Picture

This article needs a few pictures. These will probably have to be found on the net and carefully checked for copyright stuff. Is there anyone in Christchurch who could take a photo of the creche? That would be a good start. Also, the front cover of "A City Possessed", or a pic by Lynley Hood. And, most importantly, a pic of Peter Ellis himself is key. --Midnight tonight 08:50, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

I was just coming here to post such a request.-gadfium 09:21, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

I was going to ask as-well :) Brian | (Talk) 11:05, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

I may be able to assist with photos of Creche. Allow me a day or two. Richard 05:43, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Photo available here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:North_wall1.JPG

This is of north wall taken by me Jan 2006 through windows from outside the building. The door to toilet lobby is clealy visible and unchanged from 1991. It was kept open in day to day operation of creche, also note glass window in door. As you can see the centre still operates as a day care centre and the toilet plan appears unchanged, one would have thought such an area, where horrific acts could so easily be concealed might have been redesigned. A detailed plan of the centre is available on peterellis.org.nz and simple layout drawing here http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/r.christie/2.html#centre_layout Richard 03:33, 30 April 2006 (UTC)

Of course, it may have been redesigned, can't tell from outside the building. Richard 03:37, 30 April 2006 (UTC)

Thanks, that picture is a good start, and I've added it to the article, although the caption needs a bit of tweaking.

Any chance of a picture of Peter Ellis? There must be pictures taken by people who are involved in pro-Ellis campaigns, and people here on Wikipedia who have contact with those people who can ask them to release the picture under a free licence.-gadfium 04:34, 30 April 2006 (UTC)

Well, you can ask the two original sources of the photos on the Ellis website. TV1 News and Ch Ch Press. Those photos have been up there for years without the sources complaining. I've no photos of the fellow. Richard 06:21, 30 April 2006 (UTC)

Information resource

I'm thrilled that people have started this project. The main information resources for the project should include "A City Possessed" and the thousands of web pages at www.peterellis.org.nz. Richard Christie has also provided an important link.

The peterellis site should provide all available news reports, opinion pieces, and documents associated with the case. If an article is NOT on the ellis site, please send me a copy! While the site has a definite position on the innocence of Peter Ellis, it has not deviated from the policy of including ALL opinion, regardless of what that opinion is.

If you find an article on the ellis site that has been copied from elsewhere, please use the original reference.

This project has the opportunity to re present the information available in a different structured way: The Ellis site for example has collated news reports and opinion articles in a chronological order - the encyclopaedia approach allows subjects to be tackled separately - eg, off the top of my head "The Women's employment Case", "The police investigation", etc etc. There are certainly quite a few summaries of the case. Those who get involved studying Ellis invariably get drawn into the wider issues of "What factors caused the case" "The Satanic ritual abuse scare (of the late 80s and early 90s)", "True and false allegations of abuse" etc (A good example are the introductory chapters of A City Possessed, that Lynley Hood thought to be an essential integral part of the Ellis story.)

(brianr) 18:05, 26 April 2006 (UTC)~~

Article name revisited

I'm very upset with your title however. Probably the majority of New Zealanders now consider Peter Ellis to be innocent and to be New Zealand's most well known person who has been wrongfully convicted. (There are obviously many people who have strong views the other way)

We do not generally refer to people by all their names unless they are accused or criminals. Peter is of course convicted, but the name does provide a reinforcement of his guilty status, when most New Zealanders now do not think he is. Calling him by all of his names provides an unnecessary implicit statement that he is a criminal.

Perhaps he could be permitted to be "humanised" a little more and called by his ordinary name: "Peter Ellis" as all other Peter Ellis are on Wikipedia:

Peter Ellis (actor)

Peter Ellis (CHP politician)

Peter Ellis (Green Party candidate)

Peter Ellis (Controversially convicted in NZ Christchurch Creche case)

Peter Ellis (architect)

brianr@wave.co.nz

We have debated the article title; see above under "Peter Ellis (New Zealand)" and "Rename". This title was intended to be absolutely neutral. The practice of calling criminals by their full name was not considered when we named the article.

Because Peter Ellis is a moderately common name, and there are even other New Zealanders with this name who may eventually have articles in Wikipedia, the original article name of Peter Ellis (New Zealand) was not considered a good one. We very definitely didn't want a POV title such as "Peter Ellis (witch hunt martyr)". In Wikipedia, we normally differentiate between people with the same name by their occupation, their nationality, or adding middle names or initials. I'd be happy to see further suggestions for renaming the article. "Peter Ellis (Controversially convicted in NZ Christchurch Creche case)" is rather unweildy. "Peter Ellis (child care worker)" doesn't seem right. "Peter Ellis (accused pedophile)" feels very wrong. "Peter Ellis (Christchurch Creche case)" I could live with.

On the other hand, while we don't yet have an article on Arthur Allan Thomas, that's the name that most New Zealanders (or at least the older ones) would recognise, and most people would not consider calling the article by his full name to be an implication of anything. -gadfium 19:18, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

I changed the article's name, and I had no intention of implying he was a criminal by using his full name. I'm sorry for any upset this has caused. As gadfium says, the idea was to make the the article name unambiguous, and using his previous occupation didn't seem right. I have no objection to changing it to "Peter Ellis (Christchurch Creche case)". Does anyone have any other concerns or suggestions? -- Avenue 23:13, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

I don't think refering to people by their full name implies they are a criminal either - Martin Luther King for instance is not a criminal. While I sympathise with your beliefs that he is not a crimial, he was found guilty in a court of law and is, legally, a criminal. While Wikipedia aims to be neutral, it is a legal fact that he is guilty, until overturned be a court. Furthermore, I would like to see evidence that "most New Zealanders" believe he is innocent (for what it is worth, I don't care that much but tend to side with the law for various reasons).

I recommend new Wikipedians attracted to this page read Wikipedia:Neutral point of view. --Midnight tonight 23:52, 26 April 2006 (UTC)

See the article, "Ongoing influence", where I added a public opinion poll which said 51% believe him innocent. This is so close to 50% (within the margin of error), that I'd say "many" rather then "most" New Zealanders believe he is innocent.-gadfium 01:46, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Note however that twice as many regard him as innocent c.f. guilty. That's hardly in realm of the margin of error, all the 'don't knows' would have to come down on guilty side of the fence for that to happen. Lies, damn lies and statistics ;-) Richard 04:01, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

I recommend you read the official reports into the case. They don't come close to NPOV. But I'm guessing we can still cite them, right? NZ Researcher

yes they can still be cited, so to can pro-innocence texts. The article itself must be NPOV however. If it falls out of line too much, I will stick a {{NPOV}} tag on to it. I should add that my main concern is that this page is NPOV, as I don't really have too much else to add to this article in terms of info. --Midnight tonight 03:39, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

It's good that there is a discussion on what is "neutral". The Ellis site publishes ALL points of view. So that if 100 people have a story with one opinion, and one person has a different story with another opinion, all stories are given equal weight. There is no attempt to give "equal" weight to the two different opinions.

brianr

"Peter H. M. Ellis" or "Peter Ellis (creche worker)" Both short and neutral. Richard Christie Richard 00:06, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

I am perfectly happy with either the current name or with "Peter H. M. Ellis". I'm not objecting to "Peter Ellis (creche worker)" but I prefer the former two.-gadfium 01:40, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

I favour Peter Ellis (creche worker) or Peter Ellis (Christchurch Creche case)mentioned earlier.

brianr

On further thought, I do have a minor objection to "Peter Ellis (Christchurch Creche case)". The capitalisation is incorrect, because the usual name of the creche was Christchurch Civic Creche, not Christchurch Creche. "Peter Ellis (Christchurch creche case)" (using lower case for creche) would also be correct, and I think it reads better than "Peter Ellis (Christchurch Civic Creche case)".

"Peter Ellis (creche worker)" may be neutral, but I believe it's no longer correct. And "Peter Ellis (former creche worker)" seems ugly.

I'd be happy with "Peter Ellis (Christchurch creche case)", "Peter H. M. Ellis", or the current name. -- Avenue 10:58, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

It should stay the current name IMO, or if need be Peter H. M. Ellis will do. I dislike putting creche in Brian | (Talk) 11:17, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Actually it was the Christchurch Civic Child Care Centre. It may seem trivial but the staff objected to it being referred to as a creche (i.e. not having an educational focus). Unlike BrianR whose opinions I regard highly, I have no objection to current name but feel perhaps only one person can determine whether the current name dehumanises Mr Ellis, and that person lives 15 minutes drive north of Christchurch. No, I don't have his phone number._ Richard 11:28, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

And another complaint against Ellis - this needs to be mentioned

"A young Christchurch man laid a formal complaint with police in January 2001 alleging he was sexually abused by Ellis and others when he attended the Christchurch Civic Childcare Centre." Police get no help from Ellis on complaint By: VAN BEYNEN Martin THE PRESS, 5 SEP 2002, Edition 2, Page 4. --Midnight tonight 08:10, 27 April 2006 (UTC) (copyrighted material removed)

Yes indeed, it should be included along with reference to Ellis's employment records that show the complaint had no foundation in reality. Ellis first had contact with the creche a year after the complainant put him there. This paragraph should include how the Police reactivated this "unresolved allegation" each time author L Hood had positive publicity eg winning of Montana Book Awards. Also be sure to include the complainant's debut on Linda Clark's RNZ programme that resulted in the most humiliating censure and fine in RNZ's history. Richard 08:57, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

08:51, 27 April 2006 (UTC) This story has me laughing. The "further complaint" against Ellis were trotted out for several years, every time some new publicity occurred about Ellis. The public were permitted to find out about the "complaint" when it was exposed by Linda Clark on Radio New Zealand in August 2003.

The complainant was supposedly abused by Ellis months before Ellis was even at the Creche! Needless to say the so called "complainant" has never been heard of again - probably hiding his head in shame - and Radio New Zealand were forced to apologise to Peter.

brianr

Can you provide references for that? I'm not doubting you, it would just be handy so that we can have a paragraph on that incident. this is the problem with doing database searches of news items I suppose, I only hit somethings and miss others. (PS, can you sign with --~~~~ instead?) --Midnight tonight 08:54, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

BSA Ruling: http://www.bsa.govt.nz/decisions/2004/2004-115.htm , Employment history http://www.peterellis.org.nz/docs/1986/index.htm , Nine to Noon transcript: http://www.peterellis.org.nz/docs/2003-0825_RadioNZ_NineToNoon.htm .

You're welcome :-)_Richard 12:51, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Link in

While the primary focus upon this Collaboration is obviously this article, it is also important that we get other articles linking in to this one. From a look at the "what links here", the vast bulk are from the Collaboration template or the Community Portal. Some articles are getting linked in, and we just need to keep them coming. --Midnight tonight 08:52, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

The children still feel as though they've been molested

Extracts from:THE DOMINION POST, 16 AUG 2003, Edition 2, Page 1. CHRISTCHURCH CIVIC CRECHE CHILDREN SPEAK OUT By: BONIFACE Linley

"I would have been happy to never talk about the abuse ever again. I want to forget it. But I'm sick of being called a liar. And if I don't say anything, Peter Ellis will keep going around saying he's innocent and more people will believe him," - 'Tom'

"How would a five-year-old know about ejaculation? My parents had never talked about that to me. I was able to describe it because of what Peter Ellis did to me, not because anyone had told me about it." - 'Katrina'

"I stand by everything I said when I was little. I didn't make anything up. But back then I believed everything I was told. Now I can make more sense of it . . . for example, I was told I was put down a trap door. Now I think it was just a laundry chute with cushions at the bottom. But when you're a little kid, you think adults are always telling you the truth." - 'Tom'

The fact that the children still stand by what they said is important. These qoutes should go somewhere in the article. --Midnight tonight 09:14, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

One of these children, "Tommy", is the son of Joy Bander (pseudonym) who wrote a book in mid 1990's entitled "A Mother's Story". After the case senior police involved in the investigation (IIRC Hardie and/or Det Jenkins) expressed view that this child's allegations were nonsense, I can dig up cites if required. Both of these children were at centre of Satanic Ritual Abuse allegations set at an "unknown address" (but clearly 404 Hereford St). Crown witness K Zelas had no confidence in his disclosures, nor did his interviewer S Sidey. Even Eichelbaum's expert G Davies has no confidence in the allegations made by thesetwo children set outside the creche. This info should be included with any quotes from above. Go here: http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/r.christie/5.html#C5_1_1_Contamination_by_parents for examples of process "Tommy" was put through as he "recovered" his "vivid" memories of satanic abuse, the quotes are his mother's, BTW her book is still available for a price of less than $20.00- read it and understand how the case came about!

..Richard 09:43, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

The Crown's Expert witness, Dr Karen Zelas on the disclosures of Tom and Katrina, also known as the "smoking gun" letter. http://www.peterellis.org.nz/docs/1992/1992-0828_KarenZelas_LetterToPolice.htm

_ Richard 11:46, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Yes, by all means quote the children, then we can all see just how unreliable they are. "This accusation — that parents and counsellors manipulated the children into making up the allegations of abuse — is the cornerstone of Lynley Hood's book. It infuriates Tom: "It's bullshit that we were told what to say The parents had nothing to do with what we said; all my parents ever said to me was that I should tell the truth". This is quite different from what expert witness and psychiatrist, Karen Zelas, had to say about Tom and Katrina's allegations and how they emerged. See above for the story. Despite Zelas’s doubts about how these children’s allegations emerged, Zelas testified at the trial that both children were credible! The jury never got to see her letter.

There is a particularly illuminating evidential interview with Katrina where she is shown a doll that has pubic hair. Here is an excerpt, from Katrina’ 4th interview:

Q: What’s that? A: I don’t know, that black thing? Q: Yeah, what’s the black thing? A: I don’t know. Q: Okay. A: What is it? Q: Have you ever seen that before on a? A: No. Q: Near a penis? A: No. What is it? Q: What do you think it is? A: I don’t know. Q: Do mummies and daddies have that stuff or not? A: No, what’s this? It’s all on it. What is it? Q: Well, it’s like, you know what mummies and daddies have on their penises and vaginas. A: My mum and dad don’t have one or my mum or my daddies, or [male name]. Q: Have you seen your mum and dad’s, have you seen your dad’s penis before? A: Yeah, I’m not scared of it.

…….

Q: Show me with this doll how the man teased you with his penis. What did he do? A: Oh, I don’t want to do that. Q: Just show me.

The link below refers to a girl called Rachel, who has retracted her allegations. This is another child who has retracted, in addition to the oldest complainant who retracted in 1994.

http://www.peterellis.org.nz/2003/2003-0628_ThePress_ComplainantSeeksInquiryIntoEllisCase.htm

NZ Researcher

Worried

I'm getting worried here. Wikipedia strives towards having a neutral POV (see NPOV). Yet, this article is predominately being written by people seeking to either clear Ellis's name or hold some form of retrail. Statements on this talk page worry me - "by all means quote the children, then we can all see just how unreliable they are"; "This story has me laughing." There are numerous Weasel words in the main article and there is a lack of balance in some sections (such as on the Ministerial Inquiry). The evidence should be prevented on face value and allow people to decide for themselves (The Adolf Hitler article doesn't start of by saying "Hitler was a bad man", the neutral dissemination of ideas should be enough for people to decide that). While I welcome our new editors and thank them for the valued contribution in getting sources (and they have really put a lot of info on this article), I would like to remind them of the responsibility of Wikipedia to be NPOV. This page should not end up being cited as a failing of Wikipedia, as Helen Clark current is by Russell Brown. --Midnight tonight 23:09, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

I'm not so worried. People are debating on the talk page, which is exactly what it's for. Edits to the article have slowed right down, because we've covered most of the basic ground, and I think people are hoping to get some agreement here before adding much more.

I would like to see a bit about Ellis' life before he worked at the creche. One of the documents cited here ([27]) said he was doing community service after being convicted of defrauding Social Welfare. That should go in the article, but I'd like more details. Most biographies have a paragraph at least about the person before they became famous. Was he born in Christchurch? Where did he go to school? Is there any of this basic biographical stuff available online?-gadfium 23:49, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

Possibly best source is L Hood pages 200-218. The Ch Ch Press ran an interesting feature written sometime in 2003 by a former classmate of Ellis’ about him as a child in Nelson/Motueka? Unfortunately I didn’t keep it and it never appeared on the Ellis website, the only reasonably major feature that I know of to have escaped BrianR’s net. Off the top of my head I can’t recall any other accessible sources. _Richard 01:16, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Thanks, I got a copy of Hood's book this afternoon. I'll add a section on his earlier life tonight or tomorrow.-gadfium 03:12, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Midnighttonight, you say that "this article is predominately being written by people seeking to either clear Ellis's name or hold some form of retrial". I am trying to do neither. What I'm trying to do is highlight the flaws in the case, which I believe is perfectly reasonable if done so in a factual manner. It has been documented, by some of the world's leading experts, that the children's evidence is unreliable. I'm sorry if you don't like that fact. Maybe you should state your reason for complaining. Do you have a vested interest? Have you read any of the material that has been supplied here? It would be helpful if you read it all before commenting. The article on Hitler mentions that his racial policies led to the deaths of 11 million people including 6 million Jews - hardly complimentary of the man. If you think there is too much information sympathetic of Peter Ellis, there is nothing to stop you from inserting factual information that is less sympathetic of him. There is more information to be added to the article and I will attempt to do so over the weekend. NZ Researcher

Let me put my hand up as actively striving to clear Mr Ellis' name. It is a position I have arrived at after spending thousands of hours in personal research on this case. I have read almost everything on the ellis website and much more besides, often that is not in public domain for various reasons. However that should not disqualify me from editorial input, I think my edits thus far are highly neutral. To do otherwise would be to devalue the article. However I do agree with midnight that there is material here that is presented in a not-strictly-balanced matter and it is in the areas he identifies. It is not so much the information inherent, which I assure you is verifiable but probably requires a small book in order to so do, but it is presented as fact without sufficient citation or argument. Therein is the problem, L Hood spent eight years researching her book. The topic is expansive, I can already ascertain that some contributers have only a minimal grasp on the issues and even on the history of the case. It is very brave to assume one can write an article on Ellis within a fortnight. It took me two years of research into the psychological aspects alone to believe I had started to get a handle on them. I don't want to throw cold water on this endeavour but ask you to consider following, I happen to know Nz Researcher has also spent hundreds of hours on research, quite independant of myself, L Hood, and BrianR etc so there is a high probability that what he writes (I assume from comment that he contributed much of what Midnight has concerns over) has strong foundation in research. It is very difficult to put this research into an article of such scope without it appearing as pure opinion. Can those concerned be specific as to what worries them. Nz Researcher might also like to use these talk pages more fully to point others in direction to justify any new or previous material. But I warn you all, if you haven't at the very least read Hood's book or alternatively the Appeal Court judgments, Eichelbaum and Thorp Reports, then you have a VERY steep learning curve to climb in regard to this article._Richard 00:31, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

There's a synopsis of Hood's book in Appendix B of the Justice and Electoral Committee Report. Of course it's better to read the book itself, but this seems to be a useful summary. -- Avenue 00:25, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

here is a (cough) neutral POV :http://www.peterellis.org.nz/CityPossessed/Reviews/2002-05_MinistryJustice_ValSim.htm

Richard 09:47, 30 April 2006 (UTC)

I want to back up Richard's comments that there is a lot of material involved with this case and it should be read if you want to make an informed contribution to this article. I have indeed spent a lot of time researching the case. I have communicated with some of the experts that I have cited. They have provided me with much information, little of which I have placed on here. How would I refer to this information, most of it in the form of emails, by asking you to trust me? What is on here is only the tip of the iceberg. But I agree that specific concerns should be raised so they can be debated and, hopefully, resolved. NZ Researcher

My main concern is that while highlighting the flaws in the case, the evidence which convicted Ellis is going to get subsumed. Lynley Hood's book is, in my opinion, the case for the defence in the trial and not an objective discussion of the case.

- Your statement needs some justification. There are dozens of reviews of the book available -http://www.peterellis.org.nz/CityPossessed/Reviews/index.htm Two reviews by Masson and Davies argue details of the first three chapters of the book, dealing with an analysis of the social environment of the time (which have in turn been critiqued); but all other reviews are extremely favorable.
  - eg Alison Jones - "Ms. Hood is clearly interested in the truth, and in careful research, rather than holding a view and sticking with it through thick and thin. This is an important book - clearly written, well-researched, assiduously referenced, and a compelling read"
  - eg Dr Jim Hefford (for NZ GP) - "Anyone reading this book would have to agree there remains no further need for any new examination of the Peter Ellis case. Hood, a scientist, has done it for them - exhaustively over seven years - with the result compressed into these 600 pages"
  - eg John Prebble (Professor of Law) - "I thought the book a remarkable piece of work. It showed that the verdicts weren't safe"
  - eg Bernard Robertson (Editorial NZ Law Journal) "One of Lynley Hood’s achievements, as a non-lawyer, is an astute criticism of the shortcomings of the various methods available to review criminal convictions. Each of the reviews and appeals suffered from some limitation, self-imposed or otherwise. A City Possessed is the first attempt at a review of the whole case from the investigation onwards"
- I know of NO criticism that has detailed how the book is not objective in any way in it's description of the details of the case. You are entitled to your opinion, and you may not like the obvious conclusions from the book, but an article in Wikipedia should not be influenced by opinion that may have no objective basis. - Brianr at wave 02:09, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

Of course, being involved in promoting one side of the case does not prohibit you from editing, it just means you should be aware of that, and aim to just present the facts.

- Those involved in seeking justice for concerns are almost fastidious in ensuring all the facts are presented. It's part of the reason that the Ellis site presents news reports and opinion from everybody. A significant issue in the case is that suppression of information - eg some of the more unbelievable claims against Ellis - contributed towards his conviction. - Brianr at wave 02:09, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

I know that in the case of the Helen Clark article, there is a very good discussion on the talk page over changes (see the long, long talk on the Doonegate paragraph for instance). My concern is POV, I know I have one, and have breached it on the article, but that happens. I am after all, human (ish). Anyway, keep working at it. It is a huge achievement in such a short period of time, and I do thank you for the valued contribution you've made to Wikipedia (p.s., the news guys should have a look around and get into editing other things - I presume you'll have an interest in the court system and so forth, so find those pages and edit them!) --Midnight tonight 23:42, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

"My main concern is that while highlighting the flaws in the case, the evidence which convicted Ellis is going to get subsumed. Lynley Hood's book is, in my opinion, the case for the defence in the trial and not an objective discussion of the case". Well, that is your opinion. Maybe you would like to give us some facts to support your opinion. The evidence that convicted Ellis would be a good place to start. As has been documented, the case has more to do with moral panic and hysteria than evidence. NZ Researcher

POV

I find comparison the two edits 22.25 27 April 'Nz researcher' and 21.51 27 April 'Midnighttonight' highly illuminating in regard to POV._Richard 23:14, 27 April 2006 (UTC)

The two edits are [28] and [29]. I agree that neither edit quite achieves NPOV.-gadfium 00:00, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

I'm not sure what you're referring to Gadfium. I pointed out that one of the children has said that his parents did not interview him during the initial inquiry. That is demonstrably false, but this was not mentioned in the edit by Midnighttonight. Posters should try to read ALL of the available information before posting. NZ Researcher

::we are referring to this:

The continued effort on attempting to prove Ellis as being innocent has angered the molested children, and their parents. "I would have been happy to never talk about the abuse ever again..- vs -The continued effort in attempting to clear Ellis' name has angered at least two of the complainants and their parents. "I would have been happy to never talk about the abuse ever again.. _ Richard 01:40, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

I think the second edit to that paragraph reduced the POV in the paragraph but possibly went the other way just a little bit. The wording ended up a little bit awkward, so I changed it.-gadfium 03:10, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

I was having a lot of trouble with it being akward, I thought I got somewhere near a balance, but obviously didn't. I know it seems a bit hypocritical of me, and I agree, but everyone has a POV, including me. --Midnight tonight 23:34, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Bander

I am unsure of bander reference in article as it stands.

1 Is it necc to get so specific? After all there was so much scandal in acse that even Hood had to omit volumes.

2 Readers won't know who she is . Richard 07:20, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

In addition the priming of interviewers was not confined to this child alone. The edit made makes it appear so. I think the paragraph should be on general poor practice identfied by almost every expert who has examined the interviews INCLUDING Sas and Davies who both identified all these faults although Sas just excused them all.

Suggestions: Make article shorter and fix intro.

A couple of suggestions:

1. The introductory has to say a little bit about the controversy. It should be an abstract for the rest of the article. Imagine that someby just reads that and nothing else. Contrast that with the intro paragraph in Adolf Hitler which gives all the basic details.

2. This case is huge, we can't go into a process of listing everything to do with the case. There are huge external rsources that people are already using. We should possible just reference those with shorter summaries. Giving a blow by blow account of everythign won't work I feel. Also are there external resources that lean towards Ellis' guilt that we can point to or reference. - SimonLyall 13:43, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Could you please provide the external resources that lean towards Ellis' guilt? (I'm not aware of any external resources that are not already on www.peterellis.org.nz - except for what is (imo) an excellent critique of Eichelbaum on Christie's site, and books about the case (eg A City Possessed)

If you look through the news reports section of the Ellis site you will see reports at the time of the trial, that give some indication of why Ellis was found guilty. This review will not do the subject justice unless it is able in some way to also provide the real reason why many people believe a jury was able to find him guilty - and that was the "moral panic" operating at that time. That is why, I suspect, that Lynley Hood found it necessary to include her introductory chapters in her book.

This review article will have difficulty presenting all information as coming from "one side" or the "other side". More often the interpretation of the evidence tells us more about the reader. As an example the Toddler Testimonies (so called from the publication of such evidence by Barry Colman in the SST and then the Ellis site) gives actual transcripts of the interrogations of the children. My guess is that information in those interviews will be read by different people as providing evidence of guilt - and by other people as providing evidence of innocence. This conundrum lies at the heart of the case - Brianr at wave 18:49, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Simon said that the case is huge, we can't go into a process of listing everything to do with the case. Well, I wouldn't even attempt to do that and I don't think anyone here would either. Besides, I think Hood has already done that. However, I think it's important that we provide a lot of details as to why Ellis was charged, found guilty, and why it's apparent to many of us that there's been a miscarriage of justice. More details are still to be added, so I would suggest that we wait until we agree there is no more to add before we pass comment on the article. NZ Researhcer

I like Simon's idea regarding an abstract, but would then make the rest of the article longer, not shorter. Richard 23:06, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

I agree that the introduction is poor at present, and needs to be revised to become a good lead section. I'm not so worried about people adding too much detail, since we can always hive off the longer sections into their own articles, following summary style. In fact, I think we could already improve the article by doing this for the Minsterial Inquiry section. -- Avenue 00:42, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

Regarding the links that support Ellis's guilt - there aren't many (if any). But that's not to say that there aren't people that don't think he is guilty - they just don't have a motivation to write books, create websites and so forth on that. Thus, there aren't really that many. The most people do is blog post whenever something happens (eg David Farrar. But, where is the initial judgement and sentencing blurb? They would have that "Ellis is guilty" info for you.

Also, is it worth pointing out that the Select Committee inquiry was limited by the constitution convention that prevents MPs from making comments on cases before the courts and prevents direct criticism of the judicary? That does give an insight into limitations of the Select Committee. --Midnight tonight 01:08, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

No one here has denied that some believe Ellis is guilty and what I am going to write next isn't POV, it is fact. This case was built in its entirety upon the allegations of young children. That is why the enviroment from which the allegations arose and how they were obtained and interpreted was/is so important. There was no physical or corroborative evidence for the offences whatsover except for innuendo and suspicion. Colossal effort went into obtaining corroborating and the result was absolutely nothing unless character assassination, such as evidence of private conversations between adults on unrelated sexual practices, counts as corroborative evidence. Richard 01:57, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

In addition, the trial judgment doesn't include much info at all except for discription of the count and the returned verdicts. The sentencing blurb is a little more detailed but it is really only an endorsement of the verdicts from Neil Williamson J's POV. But if you refer to the trial transcripts you must consider that the courts have supressed publication of any information that may identify complainants and their families. That makes reference to such material highly problematic, Hood did a good job though. I venture that it is not the Ellis supporters that have most to loose from its publication. You might apply to the High Court Registrar if you wish to read them.

Nz Researcher

When you edit might you please include a brief description of your edits in the dialogue (?) box below the editing block as it makes keeping track of changes much much easier, Thanks Richard 23:30, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

Sorry don't understand what you mean. What sort of description and where? NZ Researcher

How to describe your edits is explained here: Help:Edit summary. -- Avenue 03:07, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

See this page: Help:Edit_summary , it you can see what we mean by clicking the history tab at the top of articles ( or follow this link for a sample). You need to give a rough idea what each edit you make is doing. - SimonLyall 03:34, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

What I'm trying to do is to make the article more coherent, fix grammar, add relevant facts, tc. Surely I don't need to write that every time I edit? NZ Researcher

Yes, it all helps. For instance you have on occasion deleted material without explanation, I happened to think some of it was important e.g. that there are no behavioural symptoms SPECIFIC to sexual abuse, you removed that, no explanation and that important distinction is currently not in the article. That is what the History tab is for. If anyone wants to review changes or revisit them with regard to restating etc they don't have to wade through dozens of irrelevant edits. Also I believe it pays to review all recent changes to article before editing anything, I can choose to ignore sp and gr and m if they are tagged. Richard 02:03, 30 April 2006 (UTC)

Early Life

Is there anyone who knows much about Peter Ellis's early life? For instance, the Helen Clark article has a section entitled Early life. We should create such a bit as this is, technically, a biography on Ellis. --Midnight tonight 00:40, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

Gadfium is also researching this based in part from Hood's book. Here is a paragraph from McLoughlin's article 1996

Ellis is the eldest of four children whose parents separated when he was nine. He picked tobacco in Motueka after leaving school, then went overseas for two years, on his return holding a number of jobs, some of them responsible positions which he apparently found stressful and set him drinking heavily. He had been unemployed for some time when he arrived at the Civic in September 1986 on a two week community service order for benefit fraud, his only prior conviction. He liked the creche and staff, children and parents liked him, so he stayed, completing a childcare certificate on the job between 1987 and 1989.

The fact that he was qualified (I'll check on what certificate) needs to be added

Richard 01:06, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

Sections

Currently the sections are quite long and not clear. I propose a new structure for the article.

Intro

pretty much what is there at the moment

Early life

once we have this info

Allegations of abuse

what did the children say, the psychology evidence for being accurate each way

Trial

what evidence was/wasnt allowed, suppression, sentence, etc

Ministerial inquiry

What was found and the criticisms of the inquiry

Release from prison

What has he done since etc

Ongoing debate

calls for more inquiries, on going influences, and so forth

What do people think? If this is liked, then please implement it or adjust it. --Midnight tonight 10:25, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

No objection but off top of head I at least believe another section necc

The Investigation

Richard 11:27, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

Internal links

I've gone through the intro and created internal links, but it needs to occur throughout the article. I can literally scroll to parts and not see any internal links on the page. For those new to Wikipedia place the square brackets around the word you want to link. Thus [[link]] will create link. It does get more complicated, the main other one is [[article being linked|what you want to say]], e.g. [[New Zealand general election, 2005|the 2005 election]] produces the 2005 election. --Midnight tonight 10:42, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

Does it work automatically? or does one need to supply url? If not, what happens there is no internal target available? Richard 11:24, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

If there is no internal target, then you get a red-link. This is essentially an invitation for someone to start writing that article. Only add red-links when you think it is reasonable that Wikipedia should have an article on the topic, and use another browser window to try a few alternative phrasings to see if we have a suitable article to link to already.-gadfium 20:46, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

Draft lead section to replace current.

Peter Hugh McGregor Ellis (born March 30, 1959) is a former Christchurch, New Zealand child care worker. In June 1993 he was found guilty on 16 counts of sexual offences involving children in his care at the Christchurch Civic Creche and was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment.

The Ellis case is highly controversial, with many New Zealanders believing he is innocent of the charges (Ellis has maintained his innocence throughout). The case has been subject to a Ministerial Inquiry, 2 petitions, a book and numerious articles with suppoters of Ellis continuing to press against what they believe to be a miscarrage of justice.

Include dates Trial 1993, Eichelbaum 2001, two public petitions 2003 and don't forget two Court of Appeal hearings (1994, 1999) (and what about Thorp's report to secretary of justice - then Phil Goff I pressume? - , how it can be decribed I don't know)

Actually at least four petitions have been lodged, Thorp advised on the second.

Richard 04:02, 30 April 2006 (UTC)

Phil Goff was Minister of Justice 1999-2005, not secretary. If you want the secretary, i can find it out, but I'm suspecting that it would be the Minister. the current minister of justice is Mark Burton. --Midnight tonight 09:34, 1 May 2006 (UTC)

Thanks, That is how its always been described, Thorp's report for secretary of (may have been "for") justice. I've often wondered when I've read it who it meant but have been too lazy to find out.

Richard 13:19, 1 May 2006 (UTC)

If it was the Secretary of Justice then I would be worried. Unless, it was a report for the Gov-Gen which had to go through the Secretary? Can you give me a link so I can see if they are using it in the British/American sense, or the New Zealand sense? Cheers, --Midnight tonight 08:07, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

A bit of digging located this, I guess Goff asked either his secretary or the secretary of Attorney Gen or Solicitor Gen?? Anyway Thorp states in his Terms...[note last sentence then I copy the first lines of the report where the "Ministry is mentioned}

"His Excellency the Governor-General has sought the formal advice of the Minister of Justice on an application by Mr Peter Ellis dated 16 November 1998 for the exercise of the Royal prerogative of mercy.

"The Minister has sought our advice and has approved our instructing you to provide an opinion on the question whether the second petition by Mr Ellis contains any further issues, which ought to be referred back to the Court of Appeal."

"The second petition canvasses a number of issues, which have already been considered in the context of the first petition. While I am interested in your opinion on these issues I would suggest that the primary focus should be on any new issues which are raised in the second petition."

"Finally, I note Mr Ellis has asked in the first instance for a free pardon and a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the case. The exercise of the Royal prerogative of mercy by the Governor-General to grant a free pardon is extremely rare in New Zealand and I have doubts about whether such an exercise is appropriate in circumstances where the Court of Appeal is already seized of the case. The Ministry is currently considering this question but I would be interested in any comment you have on this aspect of the petition and on the application for a free pardon itself."

Thorp writes: Part 2 Background

2.1 Events Leading Up to the Trial

A detailed history of these events is contained in the report furnished by your Ministry to the Minister on the First Petition ("the Ministry's Report"). It is sufficient for the purposes of this opinion to note from that history the following –

Richard 09:28, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

okay, so its refering to the Minister of Justice. Your use of secretary is incorrect. In New Zealand terms (as opposed to UK and US), the Secretary is the civil servant head of a department (the term Secretary is less used these days, most Chief Executive is used, but in the case of Justice it is still a Secretary due to a number of internal arrangements regarding the election administration and the Solicitor-General's office), the Minister is the politican head of a department. While the US and UK use Secretary as the political-head of a ministry/department. The UK uses Permanent Secretary for what we use as Secretary/Chief Executive. The US has no nonpolitical head of their departments. --Midnight tonight 10:07, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

I doubt very much you can state that my use of the description is incorrect. But all the same I'll pass on your assessment to Lynley Hood and The Dom Post. Hood cites it as 'Sir Thomas Thorp, 'Opinion for The Secretary of Justice re Petitions for the Exercise of the Royal Perogative of Mercy by Peter Hugh McGregor Ellis' March 1999' P656 A City Possessed. You'd make quite a splash if you managed to be the first to find a factual error in her book <wink> - and did I not say I that presumed it to be Goff? Richard 10:35, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

The Dominion

March 16 2001 Sir Thomas Thorp's report was prepared for the secretary of justice in March 1999 in response to a petition for a pardon and a new Court of Appeal hearing filed by Ellis's lawyer, Judith Ablett Kerr, QC. It has never been made public. Richard 10:49, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

Breaking this subject up

I don't have the time to work on this right now, but looking at this article for the first time gave me a headache because of long sections that desperately need breaking up. Anyone have any suggestions as to how to do this? PageantUpdater 03:00, 30 April 2006 (UTC)

why not wait until it is more complete? I did advise the topic is expansive, the article as it stands barely scrapes the surface, plenty to come yet. <smile> Richard 04:04, 30 April 2006 (UTC)

I imagine the best way to break it up would be to have articles about several of the players, which can be linked to in this article. This can be done later. I do find it surprising that this article could give anyone a headache. It is a drop in the ocean compared with Lynley Hood's 600+ pages of A City Possessed. 21:09, 30 April 2006 (UTC) NZ Researcher

latest Bander additions

Although illuminating I don't think they belong in article, especially where they currently sit, they look too much like an attmpt to belittle Tom's press statement. No matter what POV is taken by readers always remember that in one way or another the children were victims. Richard 04:15, 30 April 2006 (UTC)

I agree, I was intending to edit this later. However, Tom's statement is not factually correct, and I think we have a duty to point out, indirectly or directly, factual errors. 01:04, 1 May 2006 (UTC) NZ Researcher

Sorry

Sorry, I was rushing when I put up that new lead, I did not meen to put the "draft" part up :) Brian | (Talk) 04:41, 30 April 2006 (UTC)

Paragraph integration

The paragraphs (Section: 'The Case') beginning below are badly integrated

"Ellis’ supporters have raised many concerns about how the trial was conducted..."

"Then recent changes in New Zealand law meant that the complainant children's testimony was provided to the court by two separate means:..."

The second serves as good into to the discussion about problems with the interviews but the first paragraph would benefit at that point by including the same info about how the kiddies gave their evidence.

I'm a musician not a writer. <smile> Richard 08:55, 30 April 2006 (UTC)

I've since applied a bold scalpel Richard 09:13, 30 April 2006 (UTC)

And please, I ask again can the Tom Bander material (quotes from Joy's book) be removed from ongoing concerns by who ever placed it there. I don't want to delete other's contributions but it is clearly in the wrong place , my POV anyway. <smile> Richard 09:22, 30 April 2006 (UTC)

The Tom Bander stuff needs to be removed from the "Ongoing Influence" section, it doesn't really fit in there. - SimonLyall 09:26, 30 April 2006 (UTC)

I agree, it's really out of place there. Perhaps move to "The case" section for now? -- Avenue 11:56, 30 April 2006 (UTC)

I have answered this already. It will be moved in due course. How the children gave evidence will also be addressed. 01:05, 1 May 2006 (UTC) NZ Researcher

New article name proposal

Concern has been raised, with some merit, that the current name breaches NPOV by prejudicing Peter Ellis. It should be quite obvious to followers of the article thus far that the issues are wider than Ellis and complainant's experiences. Also implicated are a large number of other individuals and organisations e.g. the Staff, behaviours of Min Of Justice and Education, health workers, etc etc. The article hardly scratches the surface.

Why cannot the title be broadened rather than defined? say to

Peter Ellis and the Christchurch Creche Case. —Preceding unsigned comment added by R.christie (talk • contribs)

I agree with that suggestion. The title at the moment suggests its a biography, but it is far far more than that. --Midnight tonight 03:58, 1 May 2006 (UTC)

I'll endorse that - I think this is a really good idea. I know the name of the childcare centre did not have the word "creche" in it, but it has long been called that in the last 15 years. _ Brianr at wave 08:28, 1 May 2006 (UTC)

~~Sounds fine to me.-gadfium 08:47, 1 May 2006 (UTC)~~

Would we still keep the current structure of the article? Such sections as "Early life" (which I still intend to expand to include his excessive drinking, and his flamboyant sexuality) seem less appropriate if it isn't a biography.-gadfium 09:13, 1 May 2006 (UTC)

We could split this info off, to make a relatively short biographical article on Peter Ellis. Of course it would need to link to the article about the case. -- Avenue 22:01, 1 May 2006 (UTC)

And what would you call the split off article?-gadfium 22:45, 1 May 2006 (UTC)

Perhaps the current title, or maybe Peter H. M. Ellis to avoid any concern that we are implying he is guilty by using his full name. I'd also favour removing his name completely from the name of the wider article; e.g. call it the Christchurch Creche Case, not Peter Ellis and the Christchurch Creche Case. -- Avenue 00:36, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

I don't understand your concern. Although your suggestion is more categorically accurate I think that people who search for Peter Ellis (H.M.)would be overwhelmingly interested in Creche case anyway, as Ellis hasn't done much else of note. Does the length matter that much? it is after all an encyclopedia, not a dictionary or compendium. Britannica didn't make its reputation on brevity. I suppose you could have a three sentence entry for Peter Ellis stating date of birth and year of conviction etc and a link to another Creche Case entry but what would you gain? That said, I haven't any strong objection to the suggestion if you insist upon it. But suggest we wait until the contributions largely cease, then take a look at how it has shaped up, then revisit this. Richard 01:56, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

I support keeping this article with the same name Brian | (Talk) 02:06, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

If renaming to a more generic name requires a split off of a biographical article, then I oppose the more generic name.-gadfium 03:13, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

I think the opposite is proposed. Either keep the current name and split off all the case history etc to another entry say, Christchurch Creche Case, or, use more generic name "Peter Ellis and the Christchurch Creche Case" and keep it all together". My understanding is that midnight would prefer anything under only Ellis' name to include only basic details. Upon reflection I'm happy with either, the links will be obvious.

Richard 04:39, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

Well since Ellis isn't really important outside the context of the case perhaps rename the article to Christchurch Creche Case and redirect Peter Ellis to that. With a little bit of biographical about him at the top.- SimonLyall 10:00, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

Cast votes here:

agree Richard 10:52, 2 May 2006 (UTC)
Support. I don't think we would need a separate article for the biographical info, since most of it is arguably relevant to the case. -- Avenue 11:29, 2 May 2006 (UTC)
Oppose, I favour keeping one article, that contains all info (case and biographical info) on the one article under the name of Ellis, I do not think this should be called Christchurch Civic Creche Case Brian | (Talk) 21:27, 2 May 2006 (UTC)
Oppose. I think we should stick with the name of Ellis. However,I agree with Richard and Simon that we should have another entry called Christchurch Civic Creche Case, to which some of the info could be redirected. 03:18, 3 May 2006 (UTC) User:NZ Researcher
Oppose splitting the article into two pieces. I'm not sure if it's clear exactly what we're voting on here. We should keep a title which is primarily about Peter Ellis.-gadfium 05:29, 3 May 2006 (UTC)
I support changing the name to Peter Ellis (Christchurch creche case) - in the same way that other Peter Ellis's are differentiated. Why should Peter Ellis of the Creche case be differentiated by his middle names, when Peter Ellis (architect) is not?. Information on Peter Ellis and the case is integrally linked - I favour keeping one article, which still allows inclusion of brief biographical information. - Brianr at wave 10:58, 4 May 2006 (UTC)
I don't like the idea of splitting the article up, as it's unnecessary duplication - this information really does focus around Peter Ellis and this is the first and most likely place anyone would look. Peter Ellis has no claim to significance outside of the context of this case, too. I would not be opposed to a name-change, as long as it can remain as neutral as possible. Ziggurat 21:14, 4 May 2006 (UTC)

Seperating prosecution and defence

Currently the case section is a bit ambiguous and doesn't need to be seperate from the trial. I propose spliting into two.

The first section is the case for the prosecution. The second section is the case for the defence. A third section could be added about evidence that came to light after the trial. Each section would be what that side argued, and not include any rebuttal from the other side.

I think this would also deal to any accusations of POV, as it would clearly show equal weighting given to each side.

What are other people's thoughts on this? --Midnight tonight 09:43, 1 May 2006 (UTC)

Well, IMO really the section ought to be called "the investigation" rather than "The case". The manner in which the investigation was carried out is central to the controversy that resulted. The courts have never properly examined it, Eichelbaum interpreted his TOR so that he didn't have to go there. The factual details of how the case developed from initial complaint (really a non-complaint) and initial "disclosure" (by a child who never attended the creche and whose allegation, although allowing the police to make a dramatic arrest, never made it to court) isn't a matter of defence vs prosecution. I vote against trying to make this material fit that pattern. But if you want to have the two POV as argued in the trials in the trial section then I have no argument. See how I attempted same very much more briefly in paragraph on second appeal.

Richard 10:41, 1 May 2006 (UTC)

Besides it risks turning the article into a contest. I think it would end up to be unfair on supporters of the convictions, in terms of the imbalance of the volume information that would probably result. I'm prepared to bet that the imbalance would be marked and would, in my view, not have the even handed outcome that you desire.

Richard 11:45, 1 May 2006 (UTC).

I think the headings are OK as they are. There is still more to be added under these headings, and I think by the time this has been done, the issue about POV won't be an issue at all. I intend to add more regarding the prosecution case and the trial. 21:12, 1 May 2006 (UTC)User:NZ Researcher

Support because at least it would get the POV into the open, rather than being weasel words and just a complete bollocking of the prosecution evidence. He was convicted. There must be reasons. I can't find them in the article --202.22.18.241 03:18, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

Point out the "Weasel words" or anything that isn't established fact and I'm sure all will be happy to amend it. For what it is worth it has been my experience that many of those who support the convictions :haven't looked into the case in any depth; or have political agendas to push; or base viewpoints on personal inclination not to question authority; or use the 'I've heard from a friend or so and so 'who knows...'that he did it' line. Of course this is purely my POV and exceptions to above occur. Why not instead ask yourself why the case hasn't gone away in 15 years and ponder on the possibility that the reason why there isn't much information appearing here to support Ellis's guilt is simply that there wasn't any supporting evidence in the first place, aside from children's accounts. Richard 05:04, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

"He was convicted. There must be reasons". Yes, there were reasons but as has been mentioned (and documented), the reasons are more to do with hysteria and panic than actual evidence. Despite all the fantastic claims involving hot ovens, coffins, graveyards, cages being hung from the ceiling, urination and defecation, animal sacrifice, etc, there was no physical or supporting evidence. Ofra Bikel, a USA journalist who has studied mass allegation creches, says that when a child says they were abused in a hot air balloon, a jury will usually disbelieve the hot air balloon but believe the abuse. There are many other mass allegation creche cases. Take the Kelly Michaels case. She was acquitted of over a hundred charges but convicted of more than a hundred charges. How could a jury disbelieve children in regards to so many accusations but believe others? Even trained psychologists don't know when a child is lying or telling the truth!

There is more to come about the prosecution case and what evidence the jury heard and saw and why Ellis was convicted.

BTW, near the end of the article is the paragraph: “In 2003, Rachel, then 18…”. There should be a note at the end of the paragraph, which takes readers to the following reference. If someone more skilled than I could do that, please.

"Complainant seeks inquiry into Ellis case", The Press, June 28, 2003. See http://www.peterellis.org.nz/2003/2003-0628_ThePress_ComplainantSeeksInquiryIntoEllisCase.htm

USer:NZ Researcher

I've added a note to that paragraph. -- Avenue 02:51, 3 May 2006 (UTC)

Cite req

The Debra A Poole quote [Ministerial Inquiry] should be removed unless a cite is given, as is it may constitute original research. Richard 06:56, 3 May 2006 (UTC)

Allegations - Case Citations?

Since I've got some spare time I thought I'd look through the judgments themselves and see if anything could be added. I have to admit finding myself lost as I tried to navigate myself through the article and see what I could add.

This paragraph particularly worries me:

A baby had allegedly been killed. Animals had been sacrificed. Three- and four-year-old children had performed oral sex on adults. A creche employee had urinated in a boy’s face. A female employee had touched a girl’s vagina with a knife, another had had sex with Ellis in front of the children. Creche workers had danced naked in a circle while children watched. Children had been photographed having sex with adults. Naked children had been forced at knifepoint to kick one another while adults wearing white suits played guitars, and pretended to be cowboys. A child had had burning paper and sharp sticks inserted into his anus. Children had been placed in "smoking hot" ovens. Children had been suspended in cages hung from the ceiling. These incidents were reported as taking place in diverse locations, including in cemeteries, private homes, the Park Royal Hotel, but most allegedly occurred at the creche.

Can these allegations be cited? Most of them sound rather extreme, but I don't yet have enough grasp on the case to make an informed decision. I took this out mainly because of the poor use of English.

From what I have read I can confirm the following:

[ Former child creche worker Tracey O'Conner ] stated that while she was working at the creche the accused spoke to her on a number of occasions about a sexual practice known as "golden showers" and said that he enjoyed such a sexual activity which involved being urinated on or urinating on other persons. -- R v Ellis (No 2) [1993] 3 NZLR 325

I've tried to read through the rest but it's making my head swim. I'll see what I can do later but if anyone wants to read the cases I can email them to you (assuming you don't already have them)... I was surprised that there are no specific case citations in the notes section? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by PageantUpdater (talk • contribs) .

I wrote the original version of the paragraph you removed. Others have added details to it since. I've reinstated it with the source I initially used. While I haven't read the original interviews with the children, they are available online and I understand that this is what they say. Feel free to correct the English; also, the various people who added details should add cites to the paragraph.-gadfium 09:47, 3 May 2006 (UTC)

Fair enough. But how do you turn what is essentially a string of broken sentences into a meaningful paragraph? I tried and failed. (And I still think this needs better citations) PageantUpdater 09:48, 3 May 2006 (UTC)

All the allegations occurred, all appear in Hood's book, some in R vs Ellis trial transcripts, (but not all, due to Stanaway attempting to downplay the ritual abuse connections and purge the bizzarre claims). The Bander kid listed ALL of Hudson's indicators of ritual abuse. His Mother appeared in DSW the morning of his last interview brandishing Hudson's book (Hood p384), IMO the paragraph sits perfectly where it is, (I didn't write it), right after the reference to Hudson's indicators. I think the English is fine. Short simple statements of fact. Only some of the interviews are available online. Richard 10:21, 3 May 2006 (UTC)

I've added placed a footnote for an Aynsley article in NZ Listener, here is an url if someone wants to incorporate it as well, http://www.peterellis.org.nz/1993/1993-0710_NZListener_JudgementInChristchurch.htm Richard 11:27, 3 May 2006 (UTC)

Also, the following cite needs adding as footnote to Eade's quote at end of Appeal section, (I tried unsuccessfully to do it i best stick to ones without urls) TV3 Sunday, 23 November 1997

"The Case In Question - Review" Producer: Amanda Millar And Melanie Reid Reporter: Melanie Reid

at http://www.peterellis.org.nz/1997/1997-1123_TV3_TheCase-Review.htm Richard

PU, I'm not sure what the problem is with the English. If you could be more specifc, that would be great. I took most of that paragraph from transcripts of the children's evidential interviews. I agree that they do sound extreme, but such is the nature of ritual sex abuse allegations. They are extreme but typically lack any corroborating evidence. Much of these extreme allegations weren't allowed to be referred to at trial.

You mention Tracey O'Conner and Ellis allegedly told her about golden showers. Peter Ellis, when testifying, said he hadn't talked to anybody about golden showers. He had, however, mentioned other sexual matters, which he said he'd read about. 21:14, 3 May 2006 (UTC) User:NZ Researcher

Hi... I think it definitely needs a lead sentence. I started reading "A baby had allegedly been killed. Animals had been sacrificed. Three- and four-year-old children had performed oral sex on adults...." and I was thinking "whaaat?"... particularly the placement of the comment about sacrificial animals (!). It should at least say "Some of the allegations were as follows:...", but I tried that and it made me want to use semi-colons rather than full stops which I dare say was worse. Just a bit of constructive criticism from someone who read one of the sections for the first time (I'm not sure about you but when I'm writing essays etc you can get so bogged down in what you think you are saying that it is hard to spot the wood for the trees. Not trying to be critical of you or anything, but just to give my opinion :) As for references etc - why not use more citations from judgments... the people making the statements made them under oath, and whether or not you believe them they can make for interesting comparisons. As for the statement on "golden showers"... again, that is simply what Tracey O'Conner testified (although be honest I was probably five years too young to fully appreciate the case when it was garnering most news time so probably don't have a full grasp of it - hence I'm leaving making any major changes to the experts!). PageantUpdater 22:20, 3 May 2006 (UTC)

Hi. You will notice that the previous paragraph to the one we're talking about is about ritual sexual abuse. So effectively that is the lead-in for the next paragraph. I don't think it needs a lead sentence but I will have another think on it. Thanks for the criticism, though. I have written previously that there is more to be added and what you have mentioned re testimony under oath and judgments will be added, probably this weekend when I have more time. 22:35, 3 May 2006 (UTC) User:NZ Researcher

The trial transcripts are under supression orders, I believe you have to apply to read them. If you cite them, you may be putting yourself in an awkward position of later having to explan how you got to read them. Just musing. Richard 04:16, 4 May 2006 (UTC)

I'm not talking about the transcripts but of the official judgments. Congrats to whoever fixed that section though, because it reads perfectly now :) PageantUpdater 04:19, 4 May 2006 (UTC)

PU, I will be providing info about the judgements in due course. 20:58, 4 May 2006 (UTC)User:NZ Researcher

Richard, I don't believe there is any problem with suppression orders. Was it a problem for Lynley Hood? These orders relate to the children's names, which remain suppressed. However, their testimony and particulaly the testimony of other witnesses, to the best of my knowledge, is not suppressed. Indeed if you look at the Court of Appeal decisions, the judges quote the odd piece of children's testimony. 22:08, 4 May 2006 (UTC)User:NZ Researcher

Crown Submission/Thomas Lyon

"Lyon's work was cited extensively in the Crown's submission to the Ministerial Inquiry."

I've removed this as I don't believe it to be the case, certainly not extensively. IIRC Roger Maclay, then Commissioner for Children and vocal supporter of convictions, nominated Lyon as an expert for the inquiry. I've briefly checked Crown submission and couldn't find any ref to Lyon but may have missed it.

Richard 03:47, 4 May 2006 (UTC)

In addition to Maclay, it appears that both Crown and Parents (who just endorsed the Crown's nominees) also nominated Lyon. I still can't find his name in the Crown submission as it appears on web. http://www.peterellis.org.nz/docs/2000/EichelbaumSubmissions/Crown.htm http://www.peterellis.org.nz/docs/2000/EichelbaumCorrespondence/2000-0607_Eichelbaum_InternationalExperts.pdf Richard 04:04, 4 May 2006 (UTC)

Lyon's work was cited by Crown Law, so I think it is worthy of mention. Simon France also refers to the Kelly Michaels case and asks, rhetorically, what could a jury have made of that case if applied to the Ellis case? See para 153 of the Crown submission:

"It is a false picture to suggest that a united body of opinion would now look at the Ellis interviews with similar eyes. Two pieces of very different writing make this point and are included in the materials. The first is a 1999 Cornell Law Review article by Thomas Lyon, who was one of the Crown's nominated experts. (Tab 16). In it he critiques what he calls the "new way" of suggestibility research. His three primary criticisms reflect the tenor of what the Crown submitted at the appeal". He then goes on to describe Lyon's criticisms, which are irrelevant in the context of the Ellis case. Lyon's criticisms relate specifically to the research being applied in the context of a "typical" abuse investigation. There was nothing typical about the Ellis investigation in comparison to other sex abuse cases. 22:15, 4 May 2006 (UTC) USer:NZ Researcher

I see, I note that the critique was actually supplied to Eichelbaum as material with the submission. So no excuses for not knowing where Lyon sat in the debate, no wonder Eichelbaum kept anonymous the "USA law professor" he sought advice from in his final report. Lyon's paper not only questions the direction of research but also the use made in the courts of that field of research. I've tried to add that but you'll probably have a better way of putting it across. Richard 08:46, 5 May 2006 (UTC)

Ellis' age

In the judgment of Court of Appeal (R v Ellis [2000] 1 NZLR 513) it was stated that Ellis' birth date was 30 March 1958. In the article it says he was born in 1959. Can someone clear this up? PageantUpdater 04:26, 4 May 2006 (UTC)

Pretty sure it was 1958 He was arrested on 30 March 1992, his 34th birthday Hood p201 Richard 05:24, 4 May 2006 (UTC)

footnote needed

The following is a strong claim

"Some complainant children started therapy sessions for sexual abuse before the investigation had ceased and before they were cross-examined in court."

I believe that it needs to be cited to page 9 of Eichelbaum's Report.

The claim is situated in last paragraph of "the trial" section. There are urls to MOJ website and Eichelbaum already in notes.

Thanks Richard 09:06, 4 May 2006 (UTC)

Here is copy from p9 Eichelbaum From the terms of the judgment it is apparent that counsel for the (then) four accused had presented arguments based on a variety of criticisms of the interviewing of the children, including the use of direct and suggestive questions, multi choice questioning, repeated questioning, repeated interviews, the use of dolls, the continuing of the interviews after the child involved in a particular count had commenced therapy, and when he was unwell, the failure of the interviewers to explore the child’s background adequately before the interview, and the alleged contamination of his evidence by information obtained from his parents or other children. Richard 09:56, 4 May 2006 (UTC)

I've shifted this to the interview section and ref it to Williamson oral judgment (No2) but if anyone can further refine the ref by proving a journal ref for the judgment then all the better. Richard 23:50, 4 May 2006 (UTC)

Section Headings

Apologies for not being bold but I guess you could say I'm just keeping an eye on things here since I don't have enough information or enough of a grasp of the article to make anything but minor edits myself. Something else has just come to my attention.

Unrelated to this I was reading the information on headings in the Manual of Style and I realised that the headings in this article do not conform. I am loathe to change them myself because of the issue of interlinking (i.e. I don't know what, if anything, is interlinked and would need changing).

The relevant bits:

Capitalize the first letter only of the first word and of any proper nouns in a heading, and leave all of the other letters in lowercase.
Avoid "The" in headings; use "Voyage" instead of "The voyage".
Avoid repeating the article title in headings; use "Voyage" instead of "Voyage of the Mayflower" in an article titled "Mayflower".
If at all possible, avoid changing spelling of section titles, as other articles may link to a specific section.

At the moment we have the following headings that should probably be edited (and my proposed changes):

"The case" > "Case"
"The Children's Forensic Interviews" > "Children's forensic interviews"
"The Trial" > "Trial"
"The Appeals" > "Appeals"
"The Thorp Report" > "Thorp Report"
"Ongoing Influence" > "Ongoing influence"

I am currently unsure about:

"A Mother's Story"
"Ritual Sexual Abuse" (should Sexual Abuse be capitalised?)
"Ministerial Inquiry " (should Inquiry be capitalised?)

If there is no opposition to this I can change them myself but I wanted to introduce this here first. PageantUpdater 09:10, 4 May 2006 (UTC)

Go ahead and change them. It's a fairly new article so there shouldn't be too many links to sections in it from elsewhere. I don't think we have any responsibility to preserve section titles just in case someone's linked to them.-gadfium 09:27, 4 May 2006 (UTC)

The manual also says: "If at all possible, avoid changing spelling of section titles, as other articles may link to a specific section. " so I was just being mindful of that. PageantUpdater 10:06, 4 May 2006 (UTC)

I also agree with most of these changes, except "The case" > "Case". Neither of these options describe the section well, in my opinion. How about "Investigations"? -- Avenue 09:33, 4 May 2006 (UTC)

I'll go along with them and I back suggestion of "Investigations" but I consider the call to "avoid" the use of "the" to be a bit retentive. Richard 10:09, 4 May 2006 (UTC)

Actually I was thinking of the same thing as PU (even though I wrote some of the headings, I've since noticed that they don't conform). 20:56, 4 May 2006 (UTC) User:NZ Researcher

Ablett Kerr

I don't think Ablett Kerr is hyphenated, see http://www.peterellis.org.nz/docs/2000/EichelbaumSubmissions/jak-01.pdf Richard 04:50, 5 May 2006 (UTC)

Tense

Can an agreement be made. The case largely is historical but still active. What is the convention used in Wiki as to tense. I prefer to use the past tense for past events, even when refering to documents. i.e. "Smart wrote " or "Thorp raised the possibility". But the article currently reads "smart writes.." or "Thorp raises the.." Help req from old hands please. Richard 12:02, 6 May 2006 (UTC)

Good point. This note seems to support your preference (which is mine too), although it doesn't directly address references to documents. -- Avenue 12:32, 6 May 2006 (UTC)

I pressume this to be best;

On 12 May John wrote "blah blah" in his diary.

But which of these?

-John's diary entry for 12 May reads "blah blah"/ It reads "blah blah".

or - "John's dairy entry for 12 May read "blah blah"/ It read "blah blah".

(for sake of arguement try substituting 'says' and 'said' for 'reads' and 'read')

Richard 23:13, 6 May 2006 (UTC)

Categories: Talk archives

Talk:Peter Hugh McGregor Ellis/Archive1

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Contents

Peter Ellis (New Zealand)

Weblinks

Categories

Rename

Thomas Eichelbaum

Great

add?

Picture

Information resource

Article name revisited

And another complaint against Ellis - this needs to be mentioned

Link in

The children still feel as though they've been molested

Worried

POV

Bander

Suggestions: Make article shorter and fix intro.

Nz Researcher

Early Life

Sections

Internal links

Draft lead section to replace current.

Breaking this subject up

latest Bander additions

Sorry

Paragraph integration

New article name proposal

Seperating prosecution and defence

Cite req

Allegations - Case Citations?

Crown Submission/Thomas Lyon

Ellis' age

footnote needed

Section Headings

Ablett Kerr

Tense

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