Vol. 71/No. 14      April 9, 2007

“However we dress, wherever we go, yes means yes, and no means no,” chanted the spirited protesters. A similar march was held in Wellington, with several hundred joining in each city.

In 2004, Louise Nicholas publicly accused three cops of pack-raping and violating her with a police baton in the mid-1980s, while she was a teenager. The three, Brad Shipton, Robert Schollum, and Clint Rickards, all admitted to having sex with Nicholas but claimed she had consented. A jury found them not guilty in a trial last year.

The resulting publicity gave other women confidence to come forward with reports of being raped by cops. On March 1, the three men were again acquitted on similar charges brought by a second woman. Following that trial, suppression orders were lifted to reveal that Shipton and Schollum had already been jailed for rape in an earlier court case involving a third woman.

Another cop, John Dewar, is facing charges of attempting to obstruct the course of justice for dismissing Nicholas's original charges of pack-rape filed in 1993. At that time, Dewar was chief inspector of the Rotorua Criminal Investigation Branch. Rickards is reportedly under investigation over further allegations.

The recent trial has dominated headlines and broader discussions here. Prime Minister Helen Clark and other ruling-class figures have raised doubts about whether Rickards should return to his job as assistant police commissioner, one of the highest positions in the police force.

A government commission of inquiry into police conduct, established in 2004, has received up to 200 complaints of rape and sexual assaults by cops. The commission is limited to making general findings and is not dealing with individual cases. Its findings will be released shortly.  
 
 
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