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December 16, 2022 at 3:22 PM

Scoop: Royal Commission Delivers Its Lake Alice Case Study Report To The Governor General

Press Release: Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry

The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry has delivered its Lake Alice Case Study report, Beautiful Children, to the Governor-General, The Rt Hon Dame Cindy Kiro.

Beautiful Children makes findings about the systemic abuse and neglect of tamariki and rangatahi at the Lake Alice Child and Adolescent Unit in the 1970s and why it happened. It also reveals the failures of those responsible for the care of these children and many government agencies to properly investigate what happened.

The Royal Commission is grateful to survivors, their whānau and their advocates who have generously shared their experiences to inform the report.

“The Royal Commission is indebted to the survivors who have contributed to this investigation. Reliving the trauma of abuse takes incredible courage. Most tell us they do so because they do not want the horrors of the past repeated today,” said Commission Chair Coral Shaw.

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Stuff: Abuse in Care: Report into abuse at Lake Alice details 'litany of failings' by the state

Content warning: This story contains accounts of sexual abuse which some readers may find distressing.

Survivors of Lake Alice lived in "misery, neglect, terror and torment", states a newly released report from the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care.

The report, called Beautiful Children, is a recollection of survivors’ experiences of abuse at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital’s child and adolescent unit between 1972 to 1980. It also details how official investigation into the abuse were flawed.

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RNZ: Royal Commission into Abuse in Care inquiry details suffering of adolescent Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital patients

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Newsroom: Lake Alice report finally documents the truth

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Newsroom: ‘I wasn’t even meant to be there’

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RNZ: Archives NZ breach allows access to sensitive health Information

A privacy breach by Archives NZ has let people see records containing abuse survivors' sensitive health information.

The breach was discovered months ago but officials kept it from the public.

An internal report released under the OIA to RNZ revealed: "On 19 September 2022, Archives New Zealand discovered that Royal Commission records were marked as open access on Collections Search, when they should have been marked as restricted.

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Stuff: How technology could save our most at-risk children's lives

Rhema Vaithianathan is a professor of health economics at AUT, and director of the university’s Centre for Social Data Analytics (CSDA).

OPINION: The distressing murder of young Malachi Subecz challenges us to take a detailed look at how triaging decisions in child protection are made.

I have been using technology in this area to better the outcome for children for almost a decade.

While most of my work has been in the United States, the detail of the decision-making by Oranga Tamariki shows similar patterns.

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The Spinoff: An academic response to Porn Week

The Spinoff’s week-long focus on pornography last month inspired the following open letter from six academics and  community educators.

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Stuff: Alcohol harm high among rainbow students, study finds

Rainbow youth experience high levels of alcohol harm, according to an analysis of Youth2000 survey data.

University of Otago’s Alcohol Healthwatch and the Adolescent Health Research Group undertook the analysis as part of a wider project looking at alcohol harm among high school students.

Data showed 52% of rainbow young people were drinkers and 45% of drinkers reported binge-drinking at least once in the past month.

InsideOUT managing director Tabby Besley said it was likely an unsupportive home or school environment may give rise to alcohol being used as a coping mechanism.

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Stuff: Hockey New Zealand to donate ticket revenue to Women's Refuge

Hockey New Zealand won’t pocket a cent from ticket sales for the two-match series between the Black Sticks women and Spain in Tauranga next month.

Instead, having drummed up a partnership with Women’s Refuge, they’ll donate all ticketing revenue in support of the Gift A Safe Night initiative, which helps women escape family violence.

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Newshub: Grace Millane's mother speaks out about mission to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in honour of daughter, late husband

Grace Millane's mother has spoken out about her mission to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in honour of her daughter and late Husband David.

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1 News: ACC reveals how Kiwis hurt themselves at home and work in 2022

The Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) has revealed how New Zealanders are hurting themselves in the home, and says all the accidents are preventable.

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NZ Herald: Rapist jailed for ‘cruel and degrading’ assaults against women

Warning: this story discusses graphic sexual assault and may be distressing for some readers.

A man who sexually assaulted three women said he was unable to control himself and took satisfaction knowing one of them was asleep when he raped her. Another attack occurred next to a sleeping child.

The sex crimes of scientist Leo Calder-Knight, 27, spanned a decade and have been described by a judge as “cruel and degrading”.

Today, two of Calder-Knight’s victims addressed him at Christchurch District Court as he was sentenced to 13 and a half years imprisonment.

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NZ Herald: Revealed: The Auckland church pastor from a prominent family who abused girls for 20 years

A church leader who used his position of trust to abuse young girls over two decades can now be named.

Siaosateki Tonga Faletau, who was a pastor in Auckland as well as owning a mechanic and car repair business, admitted indecently assaulting seven young girls from 2001 to 2020.

Some of his victims attended churches where he was pastor or priest.

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Stuff: Man offered money for nude pictures, targeting girls aged 13-17 years on Snapchat

A 54-year-old South Canterbury man claimed to be 15 years old when chatting with girls on Snapchat and paying for nude photos of them, evidence presented to the Timaru District Court revealed on Tuesday.

Murray Norman Bisdee, of Temuka, pleaded guilty to eight charges - five of dealing in people under-18 for sexual exploitation, two of possessing objectionable publication with knowledge (child exploitation) and one of exposure of a young person to indecent material - when he appeared before Judge Jim Large.

Police began an investigation in June 2020 after the mother of a 15-year-old girl noticed money being paid into her daughter’s bank account from an unknown person.

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NZ Herald: Man denies he raped 14-year-old girlfriend at Wanaka home

Warning: This story discusses an alleged sexual assault and may cause distress

A 14-year-old girl who sneaked her boyfriend into a house she was staying at in Wanaka was then allegedly raped by him, a court heard yesterday.

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NZ Herald: Man who violated 14-year-old girls vows to fight verdicts

A man found guilty of indecently assaulting two 14-year-old girls says he will fight his convictions until the day he dies and is likely to appeal them.

Michael John Kay, 44, was found guilty of sexual grooming, two charges of sexual violation and three charges of indecent assault (one of them a representative charge) of a 14-year-old girl, and one charge of indecent assault of a different girl also aged 14, after a jury trial in the Invercargill District Court in October this year.

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